The Hofstadter Manipulation
by nibbler747
Summary: Leonard returns to the East Coast to attend his brother Michael's wedding. How will Leonard deal with his brother Michael and sister Hayley trying to manipulate his relationship with Penny. Throw Dr. Beverly Hofstadter in the mix...it's going to be a messy ride! This story takes place post season 8, pre season 9.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Leonard was staring at the computer screen blankly for a long time before finally shutting down his email program. Penny was busy in the kitchen putting their breakfast dishes away in the dishwasher, chattering away. He sighed as he did a quick calculation in his head on how much vacation time he could use, and if he really wanted to use it at all. He continued staring blankly at the computer.

"Earth to Leonard…where are you?" Penny asked from the kitchen. "I feel like I've been talking to myself."

"What? Oh sorry, I was just distracted." Leonard said quietly.

"Clearly. What's gotten you so distracted all of a sudden?" she enquired.

Leonard cleared his throat and walked over to the kitchen and sat down on one of the bar stools. "Oh, I just got an email from Michael."

"Michael? As in your younger brother Michael?" Penny asked curiously.

"Yes, that Michael. His wedding is in two weeks from Saturday in New York City. He was wondering when we would be arriving, and he outlined the week's itinerary."

"Michael's getting married?" Penny squealed. "Did you know about this? Is this a shot-gun wedding, this seems so last minute!" she exclaimed.

Leonard shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Umm…well, I've kind of known about this wedding for a while. It's just that…well, Michael and I aren't exactly close."

"Leonard! I can't believe you didn't mention this to me earlier. This is so last minute now." She grabbed her phone and pulled up her work calendar. "Now when does Michael need us there?" she asked.

"Well, he's having five different events before the wedding, including various cocktail parties, and his Stag party. He asked if I could come a week earlier."

"A week! I can't take a whole week off, this last minute." Penny scrolled through her calendar. "I really wish you could have mentioned this to me earlier. I have important meetings scheduled Monday through Wednesday. I might be able to make it Thursday night, and be there for Friday and the Saturday wedding. Do you have the vacation days available? You could always head out earlier."

Leonard sighed. "Yeah, I still have quite a bit of vacation days left for the year. I think I'll probably go next Thursday night, then I'll have the weekend there to help them out if they need any. I don't want you to waste your vacation days on this though. I mean, you don't have to come if you don't want to." Leonard said nervously.

Penny frowned and looked at him. "Do you not want me to come?" she asked with a hurt look on her face.

"No! No..nothing like that. I don't really want to go myself to be honest…" he muttered.

Penny walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. She patted the cushion next to her gesturing Leonard to sit down. "You know, I always found it strange how you never mention your brother or sister. Well much of anything about your family. You're not embarrassed of me are you? I know they are both super successful" she said hesitantly.

"Of course I'm not embarrassed of you. It's just that my brother and sister are…well a bit different let's say."

"Are they like your mom?" Penny asked curiously.

"Well Hayley…Umm..kinda? But not really. Oh boy, It's hard to describe them without meeting them."

Penny smiled warmly and held Leonard's hand. "Well, you are the sweetest, smartest, most kind hearted man I know. And you have the same parents, so if they are even ten percent like you, I'm sure they are pretty awesome people. I'm sure I'll get along great with them." Penny leaned over and gave Leonard a hug. Leonard stroked her soft blond hair and sighed. If only Penny knew….his family was anything but sweet.

* * *

It was a crisp day in New York City, and a welcoming cool breeze filled the air. It was a complete relief from the sweltering heat that they had been getting for the past three weeks. A chic dressed woman put down her Prada sunglasses on her outdoor table and looked out towards the entrance of the restaurant. The entrance remained empty. She sighed, and looked down at her perfectly French manicured nails. She detested waiting, people should arrive when promised. Her brother was always late, and it drove her up the wall. He was probably doing this on purpose just to annoy her. She started flipping through the latest Harvard Law Review copy that she had brought with her. There was a large article about him and she was sure he would want to discuss it. Finally she saw a familiar figure stride confidently into the restaurant, with a sly grin on his face.

"Hayley! Sorry to keep you waiting" the man said as he sat down. He signaled the waiter and quickly ordered a Scotch.

"Well if it isn't the groomzilla himself. Michael, why do you insist on making me wait all the time?" Hayley said annoyed. She pulled out her phone and opened an app under the cover of the tablecloth. Hayley quickly typed _Michael Hofstadter Late – 25 minutes, August 10_ _th_ _._

Michael laughed. "I'm a busy man! Things to do…places to go." Haley stared at her youngest brother. He was definitely the golden boy of the family. He towered over six feet tall, dark brown hair and eyes, bright smile, dazzling good looks. He picked up the menu and started scanning it. They quickly put in their order with the waitress.

"How's the wedding arrangements going?" Hayley asked.

"Well, good I assume. The wedding planner is handling all of that. Constance Emerson…the best money can buy. Our wedding with definitely be the 'go to' event of the season. AND, get this…dad actually came in handy for once."

Hayley raised her eyebrow. "How so?" she asked curiously.

"Our rehearsal dinner is now going to be held at the American Museum of Natural History. And believe me, that venue is booked for years. I did convince dad to pull a few strings with people he knows."

"Wow that must cost a pretty penny" Hayley said as she shook her head. "Well, I always knew you were mom's favourite, but it sounds like you are making inroads with dad now? Should I be jealous?"

"Well…dad had to come in useful one day, it's been a long time coming." Michael said. His phone made a little buzz. He quickly picked it up and read the new email that just arrived.

"Michael, God that is so rude. We are having a conversation here." Hayley rolled her eyes.

"Oh you'll like this. That email was from our dear long lost brother Leonard. He's going to arrive on Friday morning, he booked the Thursday red eye. So he'll be here for over a week." The waitress arrived with their order and placed it on the table.

"Leonard" Hayley smiled. "I haven't seen him for years now. It's like he's avoiding us or something. I can't imagine why. Is he bringing California Barbie with him?" she asked coyly. She picked up her fork and started poking at her salad.

"Ugh..I assume." He scanned the email again quickly. "He said that she can't come until the following Thursday. So it appears we will get our dear brother to ourselves for almost a week uninterrupted." Michael paused. "Which is good….I want a little intel on Leonard's relationship with Nickel."

"Penny!...Nickel. You are such an asshole Michael" Hayley laughed.

"Well I knew it was some sort of cheap denomination." Michael snickered. "Have you met our sis-in-law to be?"

"Don't you think I would have told you about meeting the waitress of his dreams? He hasn't come out here, and there is no way I'm going to the land of Kim Kardashian. I know I could just feel my brain cells rot if I stepped off the plane in la-la land." She looked at Michael curiously. "Why do you want intel on Leonard and Penny's relationship? They've been dating on and off for eight years now, and you've barely cared. Why are you suddenly interested?"

Michael gazed at his older sister. She was tall like their mother, with dark brown hair and striking hazel eyes. She was elegantly beautiful, with a very slight frame and was always extremely put together at all times. She was married and a mother of two, but she never seemed all that interested in her husband or her children. It was like she got married, and had children to tick two items off some list she had in her head of things she needed to accomplish. Hayley always had her lists. Her husband and she had some sort of "agreement" and the kids were basically with their nannies at all times. She just didn't have any passion for the domestic life. She was brimming with passion however for her career and social life. She was sharp, top in her field with a PhD in Biochemistry performing medical research in diabetes. She was very similar to their mother, although she would disagree passionately with anyone who suggested that. Where their mother was not overly concerned with social status, Hayley was completely obsessed. She was always tied with important people and ran with a very elite circle. She was very cutting and discerning, and definitely not somebody to cross.

Michael cleared his throat. "Well, Emily and I have been discussing our future career trajectories, and I am putting real thought into running for office one day. Specifically the Senate. I don't need any skeletons in my closets, and I think Penny could prove to be a problem."

Hayley sneered. "I really don't think anyone will care that your older brother is dating some washed up actress."

Michael scoffed "I couldn't care less that she stars in terrible B-class movies. I would care if she starred in adult films. Don't worry, she hasn't, I checked. It's her family that's the problem. Her brother is in prison. For meth dealing no less. I don't want people associating that "type" with me. It could be very damaging."

"What?" Hayley laughed. "Nickel's brother is a meth dealer? Oh my god poor sweet Leonard. That messed up boy. Mom really did a number on him. He really needs to get over this 'hot' girl fascination." Hayley smiled. "Or wait….maybe he's using Nickel as a cover up for his secret life."

"Oh this I have to hear" Michael grinned.

"Well he has been living with this Dr. Sheldon Cooper for what…like ten years now? Perhaps they are lovers, and poor Nickel is being used as a beard."

They both burst out laughing. Michael wiped a tear from his eye. "Sorry Hayley, I think Nickel would need to be a better actress to pull that off. I watched ten minutes of Serial Apeist. Believe me…she's not that talented. Leonard dating Sheldon on the other hand, could be good for my campaign. The Supreme courts ruling is timely… Too bad Leonard doesn't swing that way."

"Oh I know. I'm only joking. His roommate is dating Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler according to mom. She did her PhD at Harvard, you could look her up."

"Yes, well that would require me to care about Leonard's friends, which frankly I do not. I couldn't care less about Penny or Sheldon or anyone in his merry band of idiots. I do care if they mess up my chances for Senate. Even Sheldon for that matter. He's on the Terrorist Watch list for trying to buy yellow cake uranium! I swear, I don't know what kind of people Leonard is hanging out with." Michael ranted.

Hayley looked at Michael thoughtfully. "You know….I wouldn't mess around with Leonard's life. You two already have a very strained relationship, and when it's all said and done, he seems happy. Which is probably more than I could say for the both of us." Hayley picked at her salad and then took a big sip of wine.

"Speak for yourself, I'm perfectly happy." Michael retorted. He cut off a large piece of steak and started eating it.

Hayley rolled her eyes. "Says the man engaged to the bitch of the east coast. Emily is a real piece of work. You do know if you run for senate, you can't just drop her like a sack of potatoes. You are stuck with her."

Michael stared at Hayley with a piecing look. "Oh course, I know that. I think of everything. I have my own 'arrangements' when it comes to her. She is my Jackie-O, the key to my future success. She may be a bitch, but she's got all the right political connections, she's the youngest judge on the Eastern seaboard, and she's quite the little wildcat in the sack. What more could I ask for?"

"Oh, I don't know…someone with a soul?" Hayley sneered. Michael rolled his eyes and continued eating. Hayley picked at her salad but was not eating anything. Hayley's phone started buzzing and the name Phoebe flashed across the screen.

"Umm…your daughter is calling. Aren't you going to take that?" Michael frowned.

"She's with her nanny. Phoebe knows not to phone me, but she does with ridiculous information that I don't find interesting. I'll let it go to voicemail." Hayley grabbed her phone and silenced it. She opened her app under the tablecloth and typed _Phoebe Hofstadter-Jamieson, Unnecessary Phone Call, August 10_ _th_ _._

Michael gazed at Hayley's full plate of salad. "You know Hayley, you probably wouldn't be such a bitch all the time, if you ate something once in a while."

Hayley sighed. "Mom says the same thing. I don't agree. Eating is highly overrated. Studies show that people that eat very little often live longer." She took a miniscule bite of her salad. "So is Leonard staying at Mom's?" she diverted.

"Yes, she has that big empty house of hers in New Jersey. He could stay in his old room."

"Well maybe we should meet up for brunch at Mom's house the morning he arrives. Surprise him. You know how Mom drives him up the wall. It'll be a little Hofstadter sibling reunion." Hayley suggested.

Michael laughed. "I'll bring the cyanide. Kidding aside, brunch sounds like a good idea. I haven't seen Mom in a while..."

"Or Leonard" Hayley reminded.

"Oh yeah…Leonard." Michael said absentmindedly as he gazed at the waitress behind the bar.

Hayley stared at her brother with a curious look. Things were never as simple as it sounded when it came to him. He wanted information about Penny, but she knew that he probably had thought a lot more about the scenario than he had let on. "Ok Michael, so what are you going to do about the Penny situation, if you do decide to go through with messing with Leonard's relationship?"

Michael gave her an evil little smile. "Two words. Ainsley Forrester."

Hayley smiled softly and shook her head. "The one that got away" she whispered.

 **A/N: Hello! Thank-you for checking my new story out. Things are going to get very interesting for Leonard as deals with Michael and Hayley and their manipulations. I really hope that you will enjoy this story, I promise to keep it very very interesting! This is my first non-Shamy fic, so I hope that you will review. I love reading them. Thanks again!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"I don't know why you both are here. Leonard doesn't require a welcoming party" Beverly Hofstadter said as she watched Hayley fill her kitchen island with baked goods and fruit that she had picked up at the local deli. Hayley walked over and turned on the coffee maker. Michael sat on the bar stool and flipped through the New York Times.

"Mother, Leonard hasn't come home in years. Don't you want to make him feel welcome?" Hayley replied as she pulled out coffee cups and saucers from the cupboard and placed them on the island.

Michael frowned as he looked at the spread of food. "Why is there no yogurt or cheese? What kind of breakfast arrangement did you pick up?" he complained as he grabbed a chocolate croissant.

"Michael…you know that Leonard is lactose intolerant. He can't eat yogurt or soft cheeses" Hayley replied.

Michael looked blankly at his mother and shrugged his shoulders, who returned his puzzled blank stare with one of her own. Hayley rolled her eyes at both of them. "Well at least I remembered" she muttered.

"Hayley, you really need to stop being so selfish. Leonard is not the only one eating this morning." Beverly scolded. She smiled at Michael. "Don't worry sweetheart, I have some yogurt and cheese in the fridge. I'll get it for you." She turned around and headed to the other side of the kitchen.

Michael grinned and stuck his tongue out at Hayley. She glared back at him. "You are such a fucking brat Michael" she hissed.

Beverly returned with the cheese and yogurt and placed them on the island. She stood back and observed her daughter. Hayley was wearing sleeveless coral shift dress and a string of pearls. Her hair was tied back in a high elegant ponytail. She was strikingly beautiful, but much too thin. Beverly frowned at her. "Hayley you look positively emaciated. It makes you look unattractive."

Hayley glared at Beverly. "Why do you care if I look unattractive or not mother?" she said coolly.

Her mother gave her a thoughtful look, "You are right, I don't care. " She started shifting through the pile of the New York Times that Michael had finished with. The kitchen started to fill with the delicious aroma of freshly brewed coffee. The doorbell chimed in the kitchen from the front door.

"That must be Leonard. I'll get it." Hayley said tensely. She hurried through the foyer and looked through the peephole of the front door. There stood Leonard. He looked exactly the same as she had remembered. Wavy hair, glasses, and his t-shirt- hoodie- jacket combination. Memories of their childhood came flooding back to her. She gazed through the peephole and smiled. She had really missed him.

* * *

Leonard wearily knocked on the door. He was so exhausted and just wanted to eat a little something, and then head straight to bed. He heard footsteps approach the door, and the lock began to turn. The door opened to reveal a grinning Hayley.

"Leonard!" she exclaimed. She ran up and pulled him into a tight embrace. Leonard dropped his bags and tentatively returned his sisters hug. Leonard felt shocked at his sister's sudden outpouring of affection. Hayley was a complex one. Sometimes she was cold and aloof much like their mother, sometime manipulative like Michael, but other times….rare times…she was kind and sweet.

"Hi Hayley" he smiled. She smiled back at him and grabbed his hand and led him into the kitchen. Leonard was shocked to see the scene before him. The last person he ever expected to see, Michael, was sitting at the kitchen island. His mother was standing beside him, and the kitchen island was a smorgasbord of fruit, pastry, juice and coffee.

"Wow, did you do all of this for me?" he asked stunned.

"Well, one must eat to sustain themselves. Welcome Leonard." Beverly said. She walked over to Leonard and awkwardly put her arm around his shoulder.

"What is this? Hugging?" Hayley said shocked.

Beverly dropped her arm and walked quickly back to her chair at the kitchen island. "Well this parenting technique apparently had a favourable effect on Sheldon Cooper, so I am simply utilizing this method to see if it shows an improvement in Leonard."

Michael snickered as he put down his newspaper. "Needy baby, greedy baby indeed." He gave Leonard a little grin. "How's my little big brother?"

Leonard sighed as he looked at his obnoxious sibling. "Exhausted. It seemed like every other row on the plane had a screaming baby in it." He sat down and poured a glass of juice. He picked up a chocolate croissant and started eating it.

"It's too bad that Penny couldn't come earlier with you. We were really looking forward to meeting her. There's no trouble in paradise I hope?" Michael said with a little smirk directed at Hayley.

"What? No, of course not. Penny just couldn't take the time off work. But hopefully she'll be here on Thursday." Leonard pulled out his phone and looked at the time. The picture of Penny and him at prom lit up the screen on the background on his phone. Beverly picked up his phone and looked at the picture.

"This is a beautiful picture of Penny. She really does have fabulous breasts." Beverly said in a matter of fact tone.

"What?" Michael said interested. He grabbed the phone and looked at picture. He gave Leonard a big smile and a wink. Hayley rolled her eyes.

"Mother! I think it's inappropriate to comment on my fiancé's breasts" Leonard said snatching his phone back.

"Why is it inappropriate? Do you not find her breasts enjoyable when you engage in sexual intercourse? Your father found my breasts extremely pleasurable during sexual intercourse." Beverly said.

"Oh my God! Mother! Normal families do not have conversations like these!" Leonard exclaimed.

"You men and your mammary gland obsessions…" Hayley muttered.

"Oh Hayley doesn't understand because she does not have breasts worth mentioning and judging from her behaviour of the past few years, does not engage in sexual intercourse." Beverly retorted.

Hayley's face flushed red, and she went over and picked up her phone. She started typing into it.

"Anyways… Is Penny shooting another movie? A sequel to Serial Apeist?" Michael asked.

"No, she's not acting anymore. She's a pharmaceutical sales rep. She's been doing this for almost a year now. I thought mom would have told you both." Leonard mentioned with a puzzled look on his face as he looked at his mother.

"Penny's career evolution is not high on my priority list of discussion topics Leonard. If you wanted to convey information to your brother and sister, you should have told them yourself. You can't depend on mommy to do everything for you." Beverly stated coldly.

"Pharmaceutical Sales Rep! Hey Hayley, she's practically in the same field as you" Michael grinned at Hayley. He knew this would completely get her enraged.

"We are hardly in the same field! I do world renown medical research in diabetes. I am not a used car salesman of the pharmaceutical world!" Hayley spouted angrily.

"Used car salesman! I would hardly call Penny's career –"Leonard started.

"Career!? –"Hayley interjected.

"Children! Please be quiet. You are giving me a headache." Beverly turned to Hayley. "I thought your latest findings were going to be published in the International Journal of Medical Sciences months ago. I haven't seen anything yet" she enquired.

"Well we had to redo our double blind study on –" Hayley began.

"-disappointing Hayley. I'm sure that had to do with your incompetence. You couldn't even order breakfast correctly today." Beverly stated.

Leonard glanced over at his sister who had her fists clenched so tight they were beginning to turn white. A wave of familiar empathy washed over him. "Mother, that's not really fair to Hayley."

"Well yes, at least Hayley is publishing her own research. I'm not sure you would be publishing anything at all if it wasn't for Sheldon." Beverly retorted.

"The whole concept behind our paper was my idea!" Leonard exclaimed. Hayley shook her head and started typing furiously into her phone.

Beverly gathered her keys, and started putting some files in her bag. "Anyone can have ideas Leonard. But if you do not have the capability to prove your own theories, then you are nothing more than a common dreamer. It's a good thing Sheldon lets you ride his coat tails." Beverly closed the clasp on her bag and slung it over her shoulder.

Michael smiled at his mother. "Did you see my article in the Harvard Law Review?"

Beverly smiled and walked over to Michael and ruffled his hair. "I did, and it was insightful and brilliant as always." She sighed "I always knew there was a reason I had three children. Third time was a charm. I am going to the office, Goodbye." She walked out of the kitchen and exited the house.

Leonard sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Oh boy! I sure missed that." He looked over at Michael. "Well, you're still the suck up as always."

Michael smirked. "I'm sorry Leonard. I know it must be difficult to live in the shadow of my brilliance. I'll try not to shine so brightly around you."

Leonard rolled his eyes, and then filled his plate with fruit. Hayley sat silently at the island drinking her coffee with an annoyed look on her face.

Michael looked at his older brother and sister. He had forgotten that they had both had a bit of a soft spot for each other. Well, he hadn't graduated top in his Harvard Law class for nothing. He was the master of persuasion, and getting those two to turn against each other would be like child's play. They were both scientists, and their manner of thinking was much more linear. He would need Hayley on his side, if he was ever going to get his plan to work. She was key in influencing Leonard, and Ainsley was Hayley's friend not his. He couldn't have her being empathetic towards Leonard.

Michael turned toward Leonard. "So Leonard, what's the real story with your wedding to Penny? I heard that you and Penny ran off to Vegas to get married? But then changed your minds and came back?"

"What?!" Leonard and Hayley both exclaimed.

"Where did you hear that? I thought you had no idea what was going on in my life?" Leonard said in an annoyed tone.

"Oh mom told me, I guess that piece of information was interesting enough to make it on her list of discussion topics."

"Mom? I never told mom. How the heck…Let me guess…Sheldon right?" Leonard shook his head. "I really need to sit down with him and have a talk about what and what not he can discuss with mother."

Michael turned to Hayley and mouthed "Lover's quarrel with Sheldon?". Hayley smirked back at him.

Michael walked over and put his hand on Leonard's shoulder. "I know we haven't always been the closest in past, but I'm concerned. Is everything ok with Penny and you? I thought you were going to have a proper wedding with your family, and not some sort of Vegas deal. Were you really going to run off and get married without telling any of us?" He glanced at Hayley who had a very hurt look on her face as she looked at Leonard. Jackpot. This would be a way to pull Hayley back over to his side.

"You know Leonard, I know you and I haven't always been the closest brothers. And you and mom and dad have a bit of a strained relationship also. But I am super surprised, that you would even consider getting married, without at least Hayley there. I mean, she was the one who defended you all those times to mom. She was the one tried her best to stop people from bullying you. Didn't she even take care of you when you had that asthma attack and were admitted to the hospital when mom and dad were out of town. I seem to recall her sitting up all night watching you once you got home, just to make sure you were ok. I know our relationship is a bit messed up, but I thought you still cared for Hayley…." Michael trailed off.

Hayley had a sad look on her face. She pulled out her phone and started typing something into it.

Leonard looked at his sister worried. He knew Michael was just trying to get her upset with him, unfortunately it appeared to be working.

"Hayley, it wasn't like that. It was just a spur of the moment decision from two people in love. It was just us, no friends, no family, it was just something that felt so right in that moment, that we couldn't wait another minute, we wanted to get married right then" Leonard said softly.

"Oh, I don't know Leonard. I'm about to get married. I get being in love. But getting married is a life changing experience and I want the most important people in my life to be there, standing by my side. Because I wouldn't be the person I am today without them." Michael stated.

Hayley put down her cup of coffee, and started clearing the kitchen island. "Ok Michael, you're laying it on a bit thick. Let's face it, the three of us are not particularly close. Perhaps at one time, Leonard and I were close, but its clear that those days are in the past. He has his new life in California." Hayley said briskly. Leonard bit his lip and looked at Hayley sadly.

Hayley looked at Leonard sitting at the kitchen island with a concerned look on his face. She knew what Michael was doing. He thought he was so clever, but his manipulations were painfully obvious at times. Nevertheless, what Michael had said hurt…that Leonard no longer cared to the point where he couldn't be bothered to tell her anything about his wedding. She had always seen Leonard differently than the rest of her family. He was the kind hearted one, the thoughtful one. He was the one that had genuinely cared for her. Perhaps she was wrong, and he was just like everybody else. Life's cruel lesson is that nobody ever really cares….

Hayley was very unsure about Penny. She had broken Leonard's heart too many times. Was she just some California floozy that was using her brother to attain social status and money? Or was she what Leonard claimed; a sweet down to earth person that truly loved her brother. She was going to assess Penny with a critical eye. She would let Michael think that she was going along with his plans, but she would make her own decision. Nobody manipulates Hayley Hofstadter. If Penny was using Leonard, then there would be hell to pay, and she would wish she had never crossed her path. That would be her wedding gift to her brother Leonard…as a final testament to the closeness they had once shared.

Hayley looked at Leonard curiously. Perhaps Leonard did need to be tested… To see if his love for Penny was true, or merely an infatuation. And what better way to test that, than for Leonard to see his one true love of his youth…Ainsley.

Hayley smiled at Michael and Leonard. "This conversation is getting heavy. It's a wedding! We are together after all of these years, let's make the most of it. Leonard, I'm throwing a little cocktail party on Saturday night for Michael in my garden. The old gang will all be there, it will be a good time. You'll come right?" she said sweetly.

Leonard felt relieved that his sister appeared to no longer be upset. "Of course Hayley. I'm looking forward to it." Michael smiled and picked up the newspaper again.

Hayley smiled to herself. This party should be very interesting…very interesting indeed.

 **A/N: Thanks so much for reading! Hayley is not quite black and white as she first appears. She does genuinely care for Leonard, but is she capable of showing it in a healthy way? And who was the most picked on of the Hofstadter kids…perhaps it was not Leonard after all… Who will the chief manipulator be? Hayley or Michael. Thanks for reading, and I totally appreciate the reviews. Coming up next: Cocktail Party!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Michael gazed at himself in the mirror as he straightened his tie. He wanted to look perfect for the cocktail party tonight, as there were likely to be a reporters and media there. His hair was perfectly messed up with a sexy bedhead look. He had put on a pale green dress shirt and matching tie. He wore a pair of beautifully faded jeans with his favourite pair of funky Cole Hann shoes. Perfect. Nobody would be able to resist him.

"What was Hayley's dress code for this party again?" Emily asked while standing in her towel in the walk in closet.

"Casual chic….but you know Hayley…her parties tend to drift to more chic than casual." Michael lay on the bed as he gazed at his fiancé. The water from her shower still glistened on her skin, and her towel was pulled tight around her body. Her damp auburn hair looked almost brown, tied to the top of her head in a messy ponytail.

"Mmm…I guess I'll just wear something without hose. That will make it casual enough." She flipped through a number of dresses before finally pulling out a stylish royal blue one-shouldered silk Gucci romper. "What do you think?" she asked.

"I prefer the towel. Actually, switch that…I prefer no towel" Michael said mischievously.

"Oh really?" Emily smiled. She dropped the towel and walked back into their walk-in closet holding her outfit.

Michael's eyes went wide, and he began to loosen his tie. "Hey come back here. I think we really ought to be fashionably late to this party" he called out. Silence returned from the closet. Emily returned after a few minutes wearing her Gucci romper. She went and sat down at her make-up table. Michael sighed as he looked at his fully clothed fiancé.

Emily smiled coyly at him. "So how did your brunch go with Leonard yesterday? Did the reunion of the Hofstadter siblings go well?" She began to brush out her damp hair.

"Aah…Leonard is the same as ever. The same mediocre average guy he's always been. Mom was driving him nuts, as per usual. It was pretty funny." Michael paused. "You know, I talked with Hayley earlier about the Penny problem. I thought she was on board with my plan, but now I'm not so sure…" Michael trailed off.

Emily narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean? We can't have Penny's Hee-Haw family screw up our plans for you running for office. What has Hayley done?"

"Oh she hasn't done anything. She's even inviting Ainsley tonight. It's just that…I don't trust her. She has this soft spot for Leonard that is just completely nonsensical. Bonding over mom being disappointed in them? Who knows? It's just…I think if Hayley thinks Penny is good for Leonard, she won't go along with the plan. She's quite kind hearted when it comes to Leonard."

Emily laughed as she carefully applied cream to her face. "Kind hearted? Hayley? Excuse me while I drop my jaw in disbelief. I've never met a more frigid bitch. I don't see her hopping on the plane to visit him in California, and he never seems to come out here. I don't think they are as close as you might assume." Emily paused as she closed the cap on her moisturizer. "But, if you think Hayley is a problem, then I'd rather be proactive and make sure she doesn't cause trouble."

"That was exactly my thinking. No one is going to get in my way of getting into office. Family or not. I need Hayley for the purpose of getting Ainsley there tonight, but after they meet tonight, there is not much use for her. She could cause numerous problems though in influencing Ainsley and Leonard. What I need to do is to get Hayley completely off her game. Get her so horribly distracted, that the wedding, Ainsley, Leonard, Penny will be the last thing on her mind. I just need to figure out how to do this. I swear she's only two degree's away from the looney bin half the time she's so freaking neurotic. I just need to find her trigger." Michael stretched out on the bed and put his arms behind his head.

Emily chose her lip liner, and slowly started to outline her lips. "Trigger? How about that her husband Nathan is constantly cheating on her. Hayley's not stupid, I don't know why she just doesn't divorce him." She filled in her lips with a ruby red lipstick.

"Well, obviously due to her enormous fear of failure." Michael laughed. "You can thank my mother for that one. Aaah Nate…love that guy..he's such a good time."

"Even though he cheats on your sister?" Emily smirked.

"That's their business. I don't really care what they do. But you did give me a good idea. Hayley's petrified of failing. She's full of secrets. I know she's hiding something about her work, she gets super tense whenever someone talks to her about her work in detail. Nobody goes to her lab, her office…but she's there all the time. I think the key to controlling Hayley lies somewhere in that lab. I just need to figure out what it is."

"And I have no doubt that my devious future husband will figure it out." Emily stood up and did a little twirl. "What do you think? How do I look?" She went over to Michael and sat on his lap, straightening the tie he had loosened earlier.

"Delicious. Like a chocolate that needs to be unwrapped" Michael said softly as he ran his hand up her thigh.

"You can unwrap me later. We have a party to attend" Emily whispered in his ear as she gave him a light kiss.

* * *

Leonard knocked on the door of his sister's beautiful brownstone style home. He glanced at his watch, he was a little early. Hopefully she wouldn't mind, and they could hang out and catch up.

Hayley opened the door to reveal a storm of activity behind her. Leonard could see their open floor plan, and the door at the back of the house was open revealing the beautiful garden. The party was mainly being set up in the backyard. The florist was carting flowers from the foyer to the backyard. The kitchen was filled with caterer's who were yelling at each other. A party rental company were setting up chairs and tables. Every direction that he looked, the house was filled with people.

"Leonard you're early!" Hayley exclaimed. "Come in, let's get away from the craziness here." She led Leonard to the library. He smiled at his sister, he hadn't realized how much he had missed seeing her these past few years. It was also nice to see her without having Michael or their mother there to annoy them. They entered a small room on the main floor that was used as a library.

"Wow, that is quite the flurry of activity there. Just a small backyard party?" Leonard joked.

"Oh you know, when is anything ever simple when it comes to the Hofstadters?" Hayley replied. Leonard looked at his sister, she looked beautiful wearing a lilac silk dress, her hair pulled up into an elegant up do.

"You look really great Hayley. I hope I'm not underdressed."

Hayley looked her brother up and down. "Blazer, untucked button down shirt, black pants, Converse sneakers….I love it. You look great Leonard. Kind of geek-chic." She smiled and then ruffled his hair. "You've really tamed your hair…it's a little less –"

"-Don't even say it. That song still give me nightmares" Leonard laughed.

"Ch-Ch-Ch- Chia Head!" Hayley laughed.

"Oh God….I'm never going to live that hair down am I?" he said while smiling.

"Excuse me Miss? Where is the breaker panel? I think we blew a circuit outside with the equipment" one of the caterers interrupted.

Hayley sighed. "It never ends. Leonard could you excuse me for a few minutes, I need to deal with this. Just make yourself at home. I'll be right back." Hayley left with the caterer.

Leonard walked over to the bookshelf and started looking at the titles on the shelf when he felt two eyes watching him from the corner of his eye. He turned around and saw a little girl, in a pale green dress and tights. She had striking hazel eyes, and a mop of curly brown hair. She was holding a violin.

"Hi Uncle Leonard. How are you?" a cheerful little voice chirped. Leonard smiled as the girl gently laid the violin on the coffee table and then jumped up on the couch and gave him a big smile.

"Hi Phoebe. How are you?" Leonard looked at his little niece. He sat down beside her and gave her a quick hug. She had inherited Hayley's eyes, but she appeared to have the exact same curly hair as him.

"I'm good. Thank-you so much for my birthday presents you sent. You always send the best presents…you know the ones that are fun. I loved the charm bracelet, and the costume was super cool! How did you know I love Kamala Khan? Also I LOVED the chemistry set. I've managed to melt my dad's metal pen! It was so cool! He got sooooo mad!" she giggled.

Leonard laughed at her exuberance. "The charm bracelet was Penny's idea. I love reading comic books, and I talked to my friend Stuart and he said that Ms. Marvel was all the rage right now. I thought you might like that one. As for the chemistry set…well your mom was crazy about hers at your age."

She looked at him thoughtfully and smiled. "Thank-you Uncle Leonard, you didn't have to send me anything." She smiled and then whispered "But I'm not complaining." Leonard laughed as he looked at his little niece. She was a little spitfire. She looked around the room. "Where is Penny?"

"Oh Penny couldn't make right now, but she's coming next week. She'll be here for the wedding."

"Is she nice?" Phoebe asked.

"Well, I think she's very nice. That's why I'm marrying her" Leonard said with a smile.

"I don't like Emily. I don't think she's very nice."

Leonard looked at her concerned. "Why do you say that?"

Phoebe frowned and didn't say anything. After a moment she muttered "You'll see…"

"You know Phoebe, you probably shouldn't go around saying that you don't like Emily. People will think you're being impolite, and she's the bride."

"I guess…but mom say's I am a good judge of character."

"Oh really? Is that so?" Leonard snickered.

"I like you!" she giggled.

"Well, then your mom must be right. You are a good judge of character." Leonard said warmly.

Phoebe got a serious look on her face. "I wished you lived here. Then maybe mom wouldn't be so sad all the time."

Leonard looked at her with a worried look. "Why do you say your mom is sad all the time?" He knew that his mother drove Hayley nuts, but she was used to that. The rest of her life appeared to be going smoothly. Married. Two beautiful kids. Successful career…

"I can tell. She tries to hide it, but I'm not dumb. She works a lot and comes home late. She comes to my room and watches me sleep sometimes. But she crys sometimes when she watches me. She doesn't know I saw her, I just pretend to be asleep. I phone her when she's not home sometimes. I think it cheers her up. Although one afternoon, I phoned her forty-two times, and she got really really mad at me. Now I'm not supposed to call her unless it's important."

"Forty-two times! That's a lot Phoebe. No wonder your mom got mad. You know if you call less times, it makes each call more special. I'm sure that your calls do make her happy though" Leonard said softly.

"I guess. I love mom a lot, please can you make her happy again Uncle Leonard?" she pleaded.

Leonard's heart ached at hearing his niece so sad, and worrying about Hayley. What was going on? He needed to sit down with Hayley and have a heart to heart one of these nights. It appeared that a lot more was going on than he had assumed. He didn't want his little niece to worry.

"I'll talk to your mom, and make sure she's ok? Deal?" Leonard asked.

"Deal" Phoebe confirmed. She glanced at her violin and her eyes lit up. "Mom told me you play the cello. Did you bring it with you from California?"

Leonard chuckled. "Sorry Phoebe, it's a little big to bring on the plane with me."

"Oh….well maybe you could borrow one. And we could jam!" she said excited. She glanced at the clock on the wall. "Oh I have my lesson now, so I got to go. Bye Uncle Leonard." Phoebe hopped off the couch and gave Leonard a quick hug.

"Bye Phoebe. Listen…your mom will be fine. I'll make sure ok?"

Phoebe smiled and then ran out of the room. Leonard shook his head. There appeared to be a lot more going on than he had first thought.

* * *

Hayley left the utility room after sorting out the problem with the breaker. She spied her husband Nate leaning against the kitchen island reading his phone.

"Nate, I'm so glad you're home. I could really use a hand with all these little things that keep popping up with this party."

"This party looks like a real gong show. I thought you had everything much better organized." He shook his head and continued reading his phone.

"It is organized Nate! Everything is going exactly according to plan, things look crazy when they are getting set up."

"All I know is that my buddy's wife Christine is a much better party planner. Her parties run like clockwork. It must be nice to have a wife who is so organized and on top of things."

"It's not like this is my full time job. Christine only works part time. I work full time, and planned this whole party, which is going according to plan, I might add."

"Mmmm…." Nate continued scrolling through his phone. "Well it's not like you spend a lot of time with the kids. You have time. I feel sorry for them, it's just pure laziness on your part. I was raised a lot better than you, I have values. I guess I should save up for counselling for the kids in the future."

Hayley clenched her fist. "Nate that's not fair –"

"-Sorry phone call." Nate interrupted. He walked off into the other room. Hayley could hear him talking into the phone.

" _Oh you're not interrupting. Just listening to the wife nag about helping with her disorganized party. She thinks she can plan these things, and then gets stressed and bitches me out….ha ha..I know ..women."_

Hayley turned around in the kitchen and took a few breaths, she could feel herself losing control. Everything had to be perfect, and then it would be ok. She would be back in control. The tables had to be perfectly arranged in the garden, flowers at the exact center, food served at the exact correct time, bar stocked with a wide arrangement of liquor and wine, correct lighting, fun music. She had thought of everything, she just had to make sure it was perfect. No mistakes. Never never any mistakes. Then she would feel ok.

Leonard walked into the kitchen to see his sister with her eyes closed leaned up against the kitchen counter, quietly reciting details of her party under her breath as if in a trance.

"Hayley?" he said quietly. She gasped startled out of her daze. She looked at Leonard with wide eyes.

"Leonard. I'm glad you're here. The party is starting now." she said shakily.

 **A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, it means a lot to me. The party will definitely be on next chapter…just wanted to get a bunch of background in here. Thanks again for reading.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The backyard looked beautiful. The decorating company had done a wonderful job, and turned the garden into an oasis of hydrangeas and peonies. Intimate tables all done in white were scattered around the yard, and a bar was set up next to the hot tub and DJ station. Phoebe was sitting on a patio chair watching her little brother Daniel play with his toy truck on the ground. Quite a few guests had begun to arrive, and they were milling around the bar, getting cocktails and appetizers. Phoebe spied Leonard and Hayley walk into the backyard. As soon as her mom entered the backyard, a caterer came up to her to with some problem and they went quickly back into the kitchen, leaving Leonard alone in the garden.

Phoebe gazed at her uncle. He was so different from her uncle Michael. He was funny and easy to talk to, and his hair was just like hers. Uncle Michael never seemed to have too much to say to her. Just "How's school?" and "What grade are you in again?" And Emily was mean. Uncle Leonard didn't understand because he hadn't met her yet. She jumped off the chair and walked over to Leonard.

"Hi Uncle Leonard!" she chirped.

Leonard smiled, happy to see his little niece again. "How's the prettiest girl at the party?" he asked.

"Penny might not like you saying that!" Phoebe giggled.

"Oh, well Penny is not here. And if she was here, I'd say I'm with the TWO prettiest girls at the party." Leonard laughed. "How was your violin lesson?"

"Boring. She wanted me to practice scales. I hate scales." Phoebe grumbled.

"Well…scales are boring...but important. You know you can make a little game out of it. I could show you." Leonard suggested.

Phoebe looked distracted as she looked towards the gate to the backyard. She pointed at the gate and whispered to Leonard "There they are.."

Leonard looked up. He saw his brother Michael, and a slender auburn haired woman wearing a blue outfit. So this was Emily…

"She looks like a smurf in that outfit" Phoebe whispered.

Leonard tried to contain his laugh as he looked at his niece. "Now Phoebe, what did we talk about earlier? About being nice to Emily? I think it would be a nice gesture, if we went up to them and gave them a proper hello."

"I guess…" she sighed. Leonard and Phoebe walked over to where Michael and Emily were standing near the bar. Phoebe waved at Michael. "Hi Uncle Michael." She went up to Emily and gave her a hug, putting her arms around her waist. "Hi Aunt Emily"

Emily gasped and shoved Phoebe back. "Oh my god…is she sticky? This is a Gucci outfit. I can't have little sticky hands ruining it!"

"I am NOT sticky!" Phoebe snapped angrily. She turned around tears filling her eyes and looked at Leonard "See! I told you!" She turned around and ran towards the house crashing into Hayley on her way in.

"Phoebe wait!" Leonard called out, but Phoebe had already run into the house. He was about to go after her, when Haley came storming towards them. Although a small woman, when angry, Hayley seemed ten feet tall.

Hayley walked right up to Emily and poked her in the shoulder. "Charming as always Emily. What pray tell required you to shove a little girl? I really can't think of any legitimate reason for you to do that."

"Hayley…she was –" Emily started

"If you ever touch my daughter like that again, I will destroy your social status in this city. Just try me." She glanced at Michael. "Michael, or no Michael." Michael frowned at Hayley, and Leonard watched the scene unfolding before him stunned.

Emily was busy brushing her outfit straight. "God, Hayley calm down. It's an expensive outfit, ok? I need to look my best in case I get photographed for the _Times_." She turned and smiled sweetly at Michael stroking his arm. "Maybe you could talk to your mother about getting Hayley on some sort of medication. She definitely needs a bit of sedation.

"Who requires sedation?" Beverly Hofstadter enquired as she approached the group holding her glass of champagne.

Emily's eyes lit up. "Oh hello Beverly! Oh, I was just mentioning to Michael that Hayley is a bit hot tempered, has she always been that way?" she asked coyly while smiling at Hayley. Hayley glared at her in return.

Beverly glanced at Hayley and sighed. "She has always been a bit passionate. She must get that from me I suppose." Beverly said coldly as she sipped her drink. She gazed at her three children. "You know as much as I tried to implement my modern parenting techniques, these three have fallen into the classic first born, middle child, last born roles. Hayley is a classic overachiever and can be controlling. Leonard is a people pleaser and thrives on validation. Michael is warm and outgoing, but is a bit of an attention seeker."

"Perhaps Hayley's bad temper is due to the fact that she is an overachiever and she keeps falling short." Emily suggested.

Hayley's face flushed red as she angrily looked at her brother. "I swear to God Michael…." She turned around and walked away.

"Hayley wait-" Michael called as he rushed after her. He glanced back at Emily and mouthed. "Stop antagonizing her!"

Emily laughed and turned around to face the group.

"Leonard, perhaps you not being an over achiever is a blessing. You never seem to be bothered by your mediocrity." Beverly stated.

"Mother! I don't know in what universe, I would be considered mediocre!" Leonard argued.

"Oh sweetheart." Beverly said patting his cheek softly. "Ignorance is bliss. Mommy will try not to use so many big words around you next time." Beverly turned around and walked off.

Leonard and Emily were left there awkwardly staring at each other. Leonard shook his head in frustration. He didn't know why he let his mother get to him, but she always knew exactly what button to push. He glanced at Emily. The fact that she had pushed Phoebe, and then goading Hayley… She left a lot to be desired.

Emily gave a wickedly sweet smile to Leonard. "I'm so sorry, we were never properly introduced. Please ignore that exchange with Hayley. I think she will never like any woman paired up with her baby brother. I'm Emily Stevenson. Soon to be Emily Hofstadter!" she grinned as she stuck out her hand.

Leonard tentatively shook her hand. "I'm Leonard, as you know.."

Emily smiled brightly. "Of course! I've heard so many wonderful things about you!"

"Really?" Leonard said with disbelief knowing his brother and mother were unlikely to heap praise on him.

"Of course. Don't be silly. I know that you are a renowned experimental physicist at Caltech, whose work was just published in Scientific American. That you've worked with Stephen Hawking… Amazing Leonard. Michael didn't mention how handsome you are though" she said as she ran her hand up his arm looking into his warm brown eyes.

Leonard shifted uncomfortably. "Ummm…Thank-you? I'm engaged also –"

"Yes!" Emily interrupted "To Penelope right? The blonde actress?"

"Well, she actually goes by Penny. She's in pharmaceutical sales now." Leonard corrected.

"Oh really…" Emily said distractedly as she glanced at a reporter who was standing by the bar. "Yes, I do recall something about pharmaceuticals…. Leonard, I hope you didn't get a negative impression of me due to that altercation with Hayley. You know your sister…she can be difficult at the best of times. I really am a sweet person."

"Well, I think Hayley had every right to be ups –" Leonard started.

"-Oh Leonard, I have to go. There's someone I need to speak with. But let's chat later ok?" Emily strolled off to talk to the New York Times reporter..

Leonard shook his head. Hayley was right. Phoebe was a good judge of character.

* * *

Penny sat down in the backseat of the car and handed a piece of paper with an address to the cab driver. She excitedly looked out the window at the cars whizzing by. She couldn't believe she was in New York! She had never been to the Big Apple before, and it had always been a dream of hers. It was a huge amount of work to reschedule all of her appointments, but she was sure that Leonard would be delighted at the surprise. She couldn't wait to meet his brother and sister, and her kids. She had never met Leonard's father yet either. Beverly Hofstadter was a handful, but she was sure that his brother and sister were sweet and kind, just like Leonard.

Penny sighed and leaned back in her seat. It felt so good to be out of Pasadena. Sheldon and Amy were on a "break" and truth be told it was wearing on her. She had been trying to get Amy to open up to no avail. Sheldon on the other hand could not stop over analyzing everything. Sheldon was a handful at the best of times, but Sheldon "on a break" was a whole other ball of wax. He had been quite upset when she told him that she was flying to New York to surprise Leonard. She felt bad for Sheldon though, this whole break had really blindsided him. She hoped that he could use this time to ask himself the questions, that he had been asking her. Or perhaps Amy and him would speak directly to each other without trying to use her as a conduit.

Penny opened her purse and pulled out her compact. She had changed into a dress and heels at the airport. She just needed to do a few last minute touch ups on her make up. She wanted to look perfect for the party. Leonard had mentioned on the phone that Hayley's parties tend to be on the fancier side, and she wanted to look good for the occasion. She gave one final look over to her makeup. Perfect.

Leonard had only been away for a couple of days but she missed him so much. Tonight, she would be back where she belonged, in his arms. She was hoping that they could sneak away from some of the wedding activities and do a little site seeing. Romantic carriage rides through Central Park…catching a play on Broadway. She smiled…she knew this week was going to be magic.

* * *

"I swear to God Michael…" Hayley snapped. "Why did you have to get engaged to the devil incarnate?"

"Hayley come on….she's just not great with kids is all. You know getting in the _Times_ has been an obsession of hers." Michael popped an appetizer into his mouth. "Besides…she's a means to an end. Her connections are critical for me to get elected into office."

"Wow….that's lovely Michael." Hayley said sarcastically. "That's exactly what one wants to hear before a wedding."

"Oh come on…it's not like you and Nate are the dream couple. I swear the hatred between you two is palpable."

Hayley looked up and sadly gazed at Nate. He was laughing with a friend over at the bar. "You know…Nate and I did love each other once upon a time."

"Twue Wuv is for the birds Hayley…you know that." Michael laughed.

"I guess…" Hayley trailed off sadly. She glanced at her cellphone wistfully. Michael narrowed his eyes at his sister.

Michael wanted to turn the conversation back around to Leonard and his plan. He needed to try to get Hayley on board before he derailed her completely. He gazed at Leonard speaking with Emily. "Hey Hayley…do you really think Penny has Leonard's best interests at heart?"

"Oh Please Michael. Give it up. You just stated that you are marrying a vile woman for the sake of your career. Don't feign compassion for Leonard, and say that you are worried about him. I know that this is just for your career also. It's not like you two are close."

"I'm not the horrible person you are making me out to be. Leonard's my brother, I do care about him. Granted we are not the closest, but I don't want to see him unhappy." Michael argued.

Hayley laughed and gave him a look of utter disbelief.

"Ok, fine. It's mutually beneficial ok. I think you and I would both agree, that we want Leonard with someone who truly loves him. If that happens NOT to be Penny and he discovers that now, then it's the best for all us."

"Michael, you are not God. You can't just rearrange people's lives so that it's to your convenience. I don't think much of your plan anyways, so what if Leonard runs into Ainsley? He's bound to anyways, she's invited to the wedding. He's been with Penny for eight years, what makes you think that he'll suddenly leave her just because he see's Ainsley. Not your best work Michael." Hayley picked up a glass of champagne and gave it a sip.

"Leonard is caught up in the idea of dating Penny. The beautiful blonde popular girl liking him? What do they have in common? Not much I would bet. Football? Corn husking? I think it will strike him when he talks with Ainsley. She's absolutely stunning, she's brilliant, and her and Leonard have so many common interests. Plus she was his first real love. It will at least get him thinking."

"I think that you have something else up your sleeve. Your plans are never that simple. You are leaving too much to chance, which is not like you." She glanced over at Leonard and smiled sadly. "I really missed him. I wish he still lived here…"

Michael looked at Hayley annoyed. "You have two brothers you know…How about being there for the brother that HAS been there for you all these years. Where has Leonard been? I was the one that's been there for you, and I'm asking you to help me with the most important career move of my life."

"You are asking me to destroy one brother to help my other brother!" Hayley exclaimed.

"We are not destroying anyone. We are just presenting Leonard with a more suitable alternative." Michael argued.

"Suitable to you! Listen, I want no part in this ok? I regret agreeing to go along with this. Listen, I may hate Penny and she might be the idiot that we think she is, but it's Leonard's life. Your plan as is, has no teeth. I know you are up to something. I'll be watching you. If I think you are railroading Penny just to get your way, I WILL stop you" she said sternly. Hayley glanced at a number of serving trays that were near empty. "I need to go to the kitchen and deal with this." Hayley walked back into the house. Michael shook his head he walked her walk away. Hayley was proving to be a bigger problem than he had thought.

* * *

Emily saw that Michael was free, and she had just spent the last twenty minutes having a delightful conversation with a reporter from the New York Times. She walked up to Michael and gave him a light kiss on his cheek, making sure her good side was exposed to the cameras. "Hi Sweetie, I think I gave that reporter the most fascinating interview. I'm sure to make the front page of Society" Emily said smugly.

"That's good" Michael grumbled as he popped another appetizer in his mouth.

"Hey no frowns. There are cameras everywhere. What's wrong?" Emily asked.

"Hayley's proving to be a major hindrance. She's changed her mind about the Ainsley thing. She seems ok with them meeting, but said she'll watch me for interference."

Emily laughed. "Oh you worry too much. We can easily outsmart her. She won't even know what hit her."

"Oh my God…." Michael stuttered as he looked across the backyard. Standing at the back gate of the yard was Penny, looking around with wide eyes.

"What is it?" Emily asked.

"It's Penny. She's here." Michael pointed. "She wasn't supposed to be here to next week! This will wreck everything. How are Ainsley and Leonard supposed to grow closer if Penny is here?"

Emily smiled. "We simply need to change our game plan. You grab Penny before she can get to Leonard. I'll get Ainsley and Leonard talking right now. I'll give them a project for the wedding that they HAVE to do together. Casually mention Ainsley to Penny and gauge her reaction. Try to get her feeling really insecure about her. Then bring Penny over to me. I'm going to trash talk Hayley to her. We can't have Penny and Hayley on the same side. It won't help us at all."

"How are you going to trash talk Hayley?" Michael asked.

"Oh I don't know. Penny is a bleeding heart type right? I'll just tell her in confidence that Hayley is a horrible and neglectful mother. That should get her hating her…Now what about your plan for getting Hayley off our backs?"

Michael looked thoughtfully at his sister standing in the kitchen speaking with the caterer. Her hand was clutched tightly to her phone. Bingo.

"I need her phone. I need to break into her phone…see her messages, emails. She's hiding something, it's the key to destroying her. I know it." Michael whispered.

"Leave that to me." Emily smiled and gave Michael a little kiss. "Nobody can stop us Michael. We're too smart for them all. Now let's go. We've got a plan to implement." Michael grinned back at her. She was right. He was going to win, and nobody was going to get in his way.

 **A/N: Sorry this update was so late. I had a major case of writers block. Many thanks to Hazelra7 and Gohawks12 for the plot help! Thanks so much for reading, hoping to update the next chapter soon!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Penny stood by the back gate scanning the garden for Leonard. She couldn't wait to see the surprised look on his face when she tapped his shoulder and saw her standing before him. There were so many people milling around the backyard that she couldn't see him. The garden looked gorgeous, filled with flowers and the trees were filled with twinkling lights. The pool was filled will floating candles that were glistening in the moonlight. She was surprised to see photographers there; this party seemed to be a bigger deal than she had initially thought. She saw a tall attractive man wearing a light green dress shirt and tie approach her with a smile.

"Penny?"

"Yes.." she said curiously.

"I'm Leonard's brother Michael. I recognized you from the photos he showed me. Welcome! I thought you were arriving next week?" Michael smiled warmly at Penny.

"Michael! It's so nice to finally meet you!" Penny gave Michael a hug. "I was supposed to arrive next week, but I rearranged my schedule and thought that I would surprise Leonard. He has no idea that I am here in New York! But I really didn't want to miss out on the wedding activities, and especially getting to know Leonard's family."

Michael put his arm around Penny and guided her towards the bar. He saw that Emily had gotten Leonard and was leading him towards the pool house. "I'm so glad you did! Emily and I have been so looking forward to meeting our future sister in law. I could see from the photos that you were beautiful, but you are drop dead gorgeous in person."

Penny laughed and pulled a strand of hair behind her ear. "Oh…aren't you quite the charmer. Leonard hasn't given me the 411 on the whole family yet."

Michael signaled to the bartender. "What can I get you?" he asked Penny.

"Oh a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon would be nice" she replied.

Michael quickly ordered her drink and then leaned back on the bar and grinned at Penny. "So the 411 hey? Well I am Leonard's charming younger brother. The fun easy going one. I'm sure I'll be your favourite" he said mischievously, to which Penny smiled back. "You'll love my fiancé Emily, she's a blast, I'm sure you two will get along like a house on fire. Hayley….ummm….I'm not sure."

"Hayley? Do you think we will not get along?" Penny asked concerned. Leonard had never mentioned anything really negative about his sister before to her.

"I'm sure that Hayley will be appropriate and polite. She's just extremely critical of people…a negative trait that must have rubbed off from my mother. Just don't let her get to you. Leonard is so used to her, he doesn't even see it anymore. You must have noticed how infinitely patient Leonard is…"

Penny smiled as she thought back upon the all dealings Leonard had with Sheldon. She nodded her head. "Leonard is probably the most patient person that I have ever met. Have you ever met his roommate Sheldon? You need a manual to deal with him!"

Michael chuckled. "No I've never met Sheldon. My mother seems quite fond of him though. They seem to speak quite regularly. She says his brain is very special."

Penny smirked while running her thumb along the wineglass. "Oh he's special all right…"

"Well anyways, Hayley is high maintenance, but you'll get used to her. Her husband Nate is a good time, he's really into sports – football, soccer, basketball. They have two kids Phoebe and Daniel. Amazing kids. Em and I just adore them so much. Phoebe's a little dynamo, and Daniel is just the cutest thing. Well….I think I've covered everybody."

"What about your father? Is he here tonight? I've never met him either" Penny enquired.

"Umm…Dad? He's not coming tonight. Let's just say, he lives in his own world most of the time. If you do not have some sort of anthropology slant, he's not that interested." Michael gave Penny a look up and down in her fitted blue dress. "Well…I think he's going to like you though.."

Penny returned a puzzled look. "Ok. Well thanks for giving me the down low. Do you know where Leonard is? I'm dying to see the look on his face when he sees me."

Michael gave Penny an uncomfortable look. "Ummm….I think he is around here somewhere with Ainsley. I saw them speaking earlier. I'm sure its not big deal though… " Michael smiled at Penny. " I'm so impressed with how secure you are. Emily isn't that cool with me hanging out with my ex's" he trailed off.

"Ainsley? Ex? What are you talking about?" Penny said with a confused look on her face.

Michael bit his lip and looked away from Penny. "Oooh…Umm.. this is awkward. I assumed you and Leonard have had the old "ex" talk?" Michael looked at Penny's flustered face. This was going perfectly according to plan.

"I thought we did…" Penny said quietly staring at Michael expectantly.

"Oh….it's no big deal. Ainsley is just Leonard's girlfriend when he went to Princeton. They actually met through Hayley, she is one of her friends. They only dated two or three years? They had a lot in common, the family all thought that she was the one."

"Oh really?" Penny said tensely. "Two to three years?" she muttered under her breath.

Michael put his arm around Penny. "That was a long time ago, don't feel bad. Leonard, is I'm sure, blissfully happy with you. And I'm sure that you two have so much more in common than he and Ainsley ever had. Listen, let me take a look around for that brother of mine. Don't worry, I won't ruin your surprise." Michael backed away from Penny watching the confused and hurt look on her face. Michael headed back towards the pool house. Penny was such a simple little pawn….so easy to manipulate. After Emily was done with her, she would be wishing she had never left good ole Podunk Nebraska in the first place.

Penny watched as Michael walked away. She was stunned at what he had told her. She had learned more about his family from Michael in ten minutes, than she did in eight years with Leonard. First there was the girl on the boat, and now he kept a girlfriend of two to three years a secret? A girl the family all thought was "the one?". She shivered as she looked at the sea of unknown faces surrounding her. She could feel the excitement that she had been feeling start to drain away. Perhaps it had been a mistake to come to New York.

* * *

Michael spied Ainsley and Leonard talking behind the pool house. He caught Ainsley's eye and gave her a little wink.

"Michael?" he heard a woman's voice call.

He turned around to see Emily standing beside him, with a smile on her face. "As you can see, I got Leonard and Ainsley talking. How did your talk with Penny go?"

"Oh I think I did enough to get her feeling a bit insecure…and a bit angry at Leonard. I just need you to push her over the edge, so to speak."

"Childs play" Emily laughed. "She's going to feel so insecure about Ainsley, I wouldn't be surprised if she was on the first plane back to LA after this party." Emily looked towards the open back door of the house and Hayley standing there talking to a caterer. "Has Hayley caused any problems? Has she seen Penny yet?"

"No, I don't think she even knows that she is here. Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on my sister. Have you gotten her phone yet?"

"No not yet. I will though. That shouldn't be so hard." Emily glanced out at Penny standing near the bar. "I think it's time I befriend our dear soon to be ex future sister in law. I think we are going to be the best of friends. You keep an eye on your sister, and Leonard and Ainsley. I'm sure Leonard will realize quickly how much better Ainsley is for him." Emily smiled and gave Michael a little kiss on the cheek.

"I'm sure she will" Michael whispered with a smile. He watched his fiancé walk off and approach Penny at the bar. Michael shook his head. His dear Emily, for all her cunning ways, could be a real idiot sometimes. She had not even questioned his plan on why Leonard would leave Penny for Ainsley. Just because they had stuff in common? Hayley had seen through that hole in the plan right away. Hayley, unfortunately, was a little too smart for her own good.

He looked over at Ainsley and Leonard speaking by the pool. Ainsley looked amazing. She had definitely dressed to impress, wearing a tight black cocktail dress that showcased her gorgeous breasts and tight fit body. Her long dark brown hair was curled and was cascading down her back. Her legs looked like they went on for miles. She was lightly touching Leonard's arm and laughing. Michael smiled to himself….Hayley was right, he left nothing to chance. He thought back to the events of the previous week.

" _Oh God!" Michael cried out as his body convulsed. He lay there with his head on the back on the couch for a minute not able to think, move, breathe. After a minute, Ainsley got off her knees and walked over to his desk and poured herself a glass of water. She was only wearing a pair of black lace panties and stiletto heels. Michael gazed at her mostly naked body for a minute before pulling up his pants._

" _I must say Ainsley…you are a very talented…lobbyist. I think I'd hand you over my first born right now, if I had kids." Michael panted, gesturing Ainsley to return to the couch to him. She obliged and returned to Michael straddling his lap. He gently ran his hands along her breasts. She smiled and gave him a light kiss on the lips._

" _Well, this is a mutually beneficial relationship. When you become senator, I want to be able to count on your vote for a number of key groups I represent. If you can do that, then I'm more than happy to help you out. I can't believe you want me to seduce Leonard" she laughed._

" _I don't care what you do with Leonard, I just want Penny out of the picture." Michael said softly while kissing Ainsley's neck._

 _She laughed. "You do know I have like a thousand ways to blackmail you now Mr. Future Senator."_

" _And you know I have you on tape, Miss Professional Lobbyist giving me a blow job for political favours. You ruin my career, I ruin yours." Michael said kissing down her chest._

" _Touché Michael. Touché. I'm sure we can work something out." Ainsley moaned as Michael was kissing his way down her stomach._

" _Just play up all the stuff you and Leonard have in common. I think that's their weak point." Michael reached down and slipped off Ainlsey's panties. He kneeled on the couch in front of her. "This time I'm asking you for help, I think it's only fair that I return the favour."_

" _Oh really…OOOOH..yes Michael. You are nothing, if not….Oh God….fair!" Ainsley purred as she clenched the couch with her hands._

Michael gazed back at the pool house at Leonard and Ainsley. God, she looked so hot. Leonard would be an idiot NOT to hook up with her given the opportunity. To think Hayley had accused him of not caring for his brother. He got Ainsley to willingly offer to sex him up…and if that wasn't brotherly love, then he didn't know what was.

* * *

Emily spied stared at Penny standing next to the bar with a sad look on her face. She looked Penny up and down. She was a beautiful girl, with very nice shoes. She was sure that she could get Penny to bond with her, rather than Hayley. She was the fun one after all. Emily confidently walked up to Penny and held out her hand.

"Hi Penny! I'm Michael's fiancé Emily. It's so nice to finally meet you!"

Penny shook her hand and smiled warmly back. "Emily. It's so nice to meet you also!" Penny looked Emily up and down. She was a small slender girl, with dark auburn hair and bright green eyes. She was admiring her Gucci romper. "I'm sorry, but I have to say, that is the most amazing outfit. I just love it."

"Oh aren't you the sweetest thing ever. I was just admiring your shoes. Are those Jimmy Choo's?"

"Guilty! I have a bit of a shoe addiction." Penny laughed.

Emily gave her a big smile. "Oh me too! You should see my closet! Shoes just seem to follow me home! Oh Penny, it's so nice that we are finally meeting. I've heard so many wonderful things about you. You might think I sound crazy, but I feel so connected to you. Maybe because we are both marrying the Hofstadter brothers? I feel like I have an instant sister. A sister with great taste in shoes!" Emily laughed.

Penny smiled. "That's so nice. I've been looking forward to meeting you also. Everyone has been so nice. I just met Michael earlier. I guess we have another sister too – Hayley?"

Emily frowned and sighed. "Yes, there is Hayley….but personally I don't think we are going to bond with Hayley like sisters do.."

"Ummm…Michael did mention something about her being a bit difficult." Penny stated.

"Well Michael is being nice, because that's his sister. Listen, just between us…Hayley is a total nightmare. She's cold and aloof like Beverly, but add to that bitchy, mean and critical. And the way she treats Phoebe and Daniel….it makes me want to cry."

"What do you mean?" Penny asked concerned.

"Well first she's like an absentee parent most of the time. But maybe that's a good thing. When she's there, she's so hyper critical of everything they do. Poor Phoebe is so wound up all the time about being perfect in front of her mom that I swear she's going to have a nervous breakdown soon. Daniel is a bit too young, but I'm sure he's going to follow in the same path as Phoebe" Emily said shaking her head.

"That's terrible. Doesn't their father step in?"

"Oh Nate does try. He really does. Hayley is just very domineering. Well…you'll see when you meet her."

Penny gave Emily an empathetic look. Poor Leonard had grown up in a critical environment, and from what Emily was telling her, Hayley was ten times worse. She hoped that Leonard and her would be able to do something to help those poor kids. Hayley didn't sound like a very nice person at all. Penny scanned the backyard again for Leonard….where could he be? There was someone else she was very curious about.

"Tell me about Ainsley. You know her right?" Penny said abruptly.

Emily smiled. It appeared that Michael had done his job well. Penny appeared to be a bit tense about Ainsley. Time to gently push her off the edge.

"Ainsley? Oh did you meet her? Well she's a long term friend of Hayley's. I think they went to high school together or something. She's changed a lot over the years. She was always a pretty girl, but now she's just gorgeous. I swear she could be a model if she was taller. I guess some people really do blossom later hey?" Emily laughed.

"I guess…" Penny said softly.

"Well, she went to Princeton and majored in Political Science. Very smart, graduated top of her class. She works in Washington DC as a lobbyist. She's a bit of a do-gooder for the environment. Plays the viola. Oh but her hobbies…she's a bit of a nerd that way. Totally into science fiction and fantasy. She's actually a really good artist. I remember Hayley saying that her and Leonard locked themselves in her dorm room for an entire weekend and they created a Lord of the Rings type story which they wrote together, and she illustrated. She said it was actually quite good."

Penny bit her lip and looked down. "Oh really…"

Emily reached out for Penny's hand. "Oh Penny, I hope me talking about Ainsley isn't making you uncomfortable. I mean, it was so long ago, and everyone has moved on. I'm sure Leonard has told you all about her before. It's just weird meeting her in person isn't it?"

"Yeah…you could say that." Penny cleared her throat. "Why did they break up again? I can't recall that part of the story."

"Oh Ainsley, got a job offer to intern at the United Nations. So she moved to Europe. She ended things with Leonard before going. I heard he was quite heartbroken, and moved to California shortly after. Later, she got a really good job offer in Washington DC, so she moved back to the US about five years ago."

Penny stood there frowning staring at the ground. She felt like Leonard had this whole life that he had never told her about, and now she was finding it all out from a relative stranger.

"Penny?" Emily said gently. "I get it. I hate hearing about ex's. It just stirs up weird emotions. Listen, this was all a long time ago. I'm sure you and Leonard have so much more in common than him and Ainsley ever did. Why don't we go find Leonard. You'll feel better once you see him. I thought I saw him near the pool house."

"Ok, I think that is a good idea. I really want to see him." Penny said coldly.

Emily smiled to herself as Penny and her walked together across the backyard. It was almost too easy. Penny bonded to her – check. Penny wary of Hayley – check. Penny upset with Leonard – check. Penny insecure about Ainsley – check. She was such a pawn, easy to manipulate. Emily knew that she was the queen, and in control of the board. Once she got Hayley out of the picture, it should be an easy checkmate.

* * *

"Leonard you look just amazing. It is so good to see you again after all these years." Ainsley said smiling as she sat down on the patio furniture behind the pool house. They had sat down there because it was so much quieter, and they could have a decent conversation without interruption.

Leonard smiled at Ainsley. "You are the one that looks stunning. It looks like life has treated you well."

Ainsley laughed and touched Leonard's arm. "Oh I can't complain. My career really took off when I went to Europe. I made so many important connections." She smiled at him sadly. "I missed…home. That's why I returned to the US. I'm still the same girl you knew though…"

Leonard laughed. "Somehow I doubt that…"

"I'll prove it to you! I'll give you one guess on who showed up at the United Nations dressed like Galadriel only to discover, that Halloween is not such a big deal outside of North America! I felt like such an idiot!" Ainsley laughed.

"You didn't?" Leonard laughed.

"Oh I did…my coworkers took way too many pictures as proof! I used to always dress up for work for Halloween" Ainsley smiled.

"I remember…you love Halloween." Leonard reminisced.

"I'm so jealous of you living in California, home of ComicCon. Tell me all the costumes that you and Penny dressed up together as?" Ainsley asked.

"Oooh…well Penny is not that into Sci Fi or Fantasy or Comic Books. I went with the guys the other year. We went as the crew of Star Trek Next Generation. Well we almost got to Comic Con before our car got stolen.."

"Stolen…oh my God! That sounds like a story you need to tell me. It's too bad that Penny isn't into the fantasy world. I know how much you love it. It was so fun when we did that stuff together." Ainsley smiled sweetly at Leonard.

"It was fun wasn't it? " Leonard said with a far away look. "Anyways, I'm so sorry Emily is trying to rope you in on working on this presentation with me. You really don't have to, I'm sure I could handle it on my own. It's kind of a lot to ask."

"She wants a PowerPoint presentation of her and Michael's story told in fairy tale style…with hand drawn pictures..in one week…professional quality. No, that's not a lot to ask…" Ainsley said laughing. "Emily can be a piece of work. Listen, I've seen you draw…you need my help. Desperately!"

"My drawing skill is not that bad….oh ok…you are right. I need your help. I just feel bad about wasting your time. This little project will probably be time consuming to put together"

"That's ok, I have nowhere to go this week. I'm on vacation."

"I guess it works out, Penny isn't arriving til right before the wedding. I have the time now." Leonard said happily.

Ainsley touched his knee. "I'm so glad. I think we can make a really great presentation, we were always a great team. I really missed you Leonard. It will be so nice to catch up."

Leonard smiled, he was about to reply when he heard someone coughing behind him. Ainsley and Leonard slowly turned around. He was not quite prepared for what he saw before him.

 **A/N: The plot thickens! Thanks for reading, and I really appreciate reading your thoughts on the stories in the reviews. Thanks again! Cough cough…review please! = )**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Michael woke up and looked at his clock glowing in the dark room. 7:15 am. It was early considering how late he got to bed the previous night. His mind was racing, last night had not gone how he had planned. Michael snickered to himself…the look on Leonard's face was priceless when he saw Penny standing there outside the pool house. He had been standing close by listening to Ainsley start to work her magic on Leonard. Leonard looked happy, reminiscing about old times together. Ainsley needed more time though, Emily had brought Penny over to Leonard much too early. Penny did see Leonard and Ainsley laughing together, her hand on his knee. She looked so hurt and angry. Leonard jumped up when he saw Penny, but she just gave him a hurt look and ran out of the backyard. He chased after her, and then they were gone. He didn't see either of them the rest of the evening. It was not exactly how he wanted things to play out, but he it was a decent start.

Michael glanced over at Emily. She was nude, sleeping soundly with the covers pulled tightly around her. She must be exhausted, he had given her quite the little lovemaking session when they had gotten home from the party. She had looked hot in her blue little outfit…and lot better when he took it off of her. She had a beautiful body….but he couldn't stop thinking about Ainsley. God Ainsley had looked so hot in that little black dress she had worn to the party. He couldn't stop thinking about their encounter in his office the previous week. He needed to touch her again…to feel her.

Michael glanced over at Emily. She was still completely asleep. He grabbed his phone off the nightstand, and scrolled down to Ainsley's contact. Perhaps she was up. He sent her a text asking if she was awake and then put his phone back down on the nightstand. A couple minutes later the phone buzzed. He eagerly picked it up. Damn it, it was Hayley.

Hayley: Michael what the hell? Penny is in NYC?! I didn't even see her. I heard she ran off upset, and Leonard went after her. What did you and Evilly do?

Michael grinned at the text. Emily to Evilly? It appears that Hayley had gotten herself into a tizzy quite early over this.

Michael: I plead innocent my dear sister. I did nothing but warmly welcome dear Nickel to our family.

Hayley: Yeah right, I know you too well. This reeks of your interference. I told you to butt out of Leonard's life. I'm going to ask them over for lunch. Try to undo the damage that I'm sure you've started.

Michael: I don't know why you are accusing me of such things. Like I said, I only welcomed her and got her a glass of wine. She was looking for Leonard, and couldn't find him. I couldn't find him either. That's it. I did nothing else. Emily and I will join you for lunch then at your house.

Hayley: Sorry, you are not invited. I don't need you trying to skew everything to meet your agenda. Phoebe also has no desire to see Emily any time soon. You better get Evilly to do some damage control there, or your flower girl is likely to be very uncooperative.

Michael: Fine…fine…. Have a good lunch with Leonard and Nickel. I still plead innocent in all of this.

Michael closed the text app and opened up his calendar. His sister was so routined with her timing, he could almost clock where she would be at any given time of the day. They always had lunch at 12 pm on the dot. He created a new event in his calendar. "Lunch at Hayley's" She couldn't really turn him and Emily away if they showed up at the door. What would Penny think after all….they had already planted the seed in Penny's head that Hayley was a complete bitch. It would also give him opportunity to get a little intel on Hayley. She was becoming a real pain in the ass. It was unfortunate that she was not on his side, she's a lot more cunning than Emily. He'd soon destroy her…it was her own fault for not siding with the correct brother. Michael's phone buzzed again. He sighed…he was tired of talking to Hayley. He opened his text app to see that it was Ainsley.

Ainsley: Hi Michael, I just woke up. What's up?

Michael: Oh I just wanted to talk to you about the party.

Ainsley: I didn't get a whole lot of time with Leonard, but I'm sure I can work my magic on him.

Michael: Oh I have total faith in your abilities. Your little black dress definitely worked its magic on me. Although, I preferred what you were not wearing in my office the other day…

Ainsley: Oh really? Well the purpose is to lure Leonard…not you. I thought we had already worked our little "favour" out. And legally speaking, we are still on the up and up. We "technically" didn't have sex.

Michael grinned. This conversation was turning him on.

Michael: Well I propose we remove that "technicality". I can argue my way out of any situation anyways. What are you doing this morning?

Ainsley: Well I was going to head to the gym.

Michael: Counterproposal. I'll come to your condo and give you a cardio inducing workout. In the living room, in the kitchen…in the shower.

Ainsley: You do make an enticing argument. Do you approve of my workout gear?

A picture flashed on his phone of Ainsley in white lacy teddy. Michaels eyes went wide as he looked at it. Oh…he was going to give her the workout of her life.

Michael: Keep that on. I'll be there in about an hour and a half. See you then.

Michael stared at the picture on his phone. Her beautiful body was just so enticing, it was driving him to madness. Ainsley had managed to get him hot and bothered in such a short period of time….he was going to give her the workout of her life. Looking at Ainsley's photo left him with a bit of a situation down below. He supposed he could take care of it in the shower, eat breakfast and then head over to Ainsley's. Or…..

He looked over at Emily lying there beside him. He took his hand and gently nudged her shoulder. "Em.." he whispered.

"Mmmmm…" she responded sleepily. She sat up and rubbed her eyes and glanced at the clock. "Michael, what are you doing up so early?" She squinted at him. "Why do you look so flushed?"

"Oh lots to do today. I need to go to the gym to get rid of stress this morning." He gently ran his hand down her face. "God..Em…do you know how beautiful you are? Just seeing you there naked beside me, got me in a bit of a situation."

Emily looked at him, and then gave him a knowing smile. "Oh I see" she cooed as she stroked her hand slowly down his stomach.

"Can you help me out?" he asked mischievously.

She sat up and scooted down the bed. "Of course Michael….anything for you" she smiled.

Michael lay his head back down on the pillow as he held Emily's hair in his hand. Today was turning out to be a great day.

* * *

"Penny?"

Penny was standing with her arms crossed looking out of the bedroom window into the backyard of Leonard's childhood home. A morning dew was covering all the trees and the grass giving it a shimmering sheen. She seemed lost in thought as she continued gazing outside.

"Penny?" Leonard said softly as he lightly touched her arm. She finally turned towards Leonard but her eyes were filled with tears.

"Come here", Leonard gently took her hand and led her over to the bed. They both sat down. "You've barely said two words to me since the party. All you've said is that I've lied to you. But I have no idea what you are talking about. Please, can you talk to me. We can't work this out if you don't tell me what's bothering you."

Penny looked at Leonard. His warm brown eyes were filled with confusion and worry. She looked at him. "Sometimes I feel like I don't even know you" she whispered.

Leonard frowned and clasped Penny's hands in his. "What are you talking about? Penny, you know me better than anyone in my life."

Penny sighed. "First there was the Mandy bomb, and now Ainsley. How many women in your past are you going to keep from me? You told me you wanted to enter marriage with no secrets between us, but it seems at every turn lately, I'm learning a new secret from your past."

"Ainsley? You are upset about Ainsley? I haven't seen her, and honestly haven't even thought about her in over ten years!" Leonard exclaimed.

"I thought everything was out in the open between us. Leonard, you know all my ex's, all my history. I've told you everything. How did you miss this girlfriend of yours that you dated for years? That looks like a freaking model? That your family all thought was 'the one'!?" Penny said exasperated.

"The one? Who told you that?"

"Michael! He told me about Ainsley. I couldn't find you, and he said he saw you with her. I felt like such an idiot, when I didn't even know who she was. He assumed that you had told me about her."

Leonard ran his hands through his hair and looked up at the ceiling frustrated. "Michael" he muttered. "Michael is just a troublemaker…"

"That's another thing Leonard. Why do I know absolutely nothing about your family? I learned more from Emily and Michael in ten minutes than you've told me in over eight years. They were both so warm and friendly to me. The only person in your family that I know anything about is your mother, and that's because she's come to Pasadena! You could have at least warned me about Hayley."

"Hayley?" Leonard muttered quietly to himself puzzled.

Penny wiped the tears that had started streaming down her face and got off of the bed. She walked back towards the window. "It's like I said earlier…It's like I don't know you sometimes."

Leonard got up from the bed and walked over to Penny. He held his hand out to hers. She tentatively held it, but kept looking out the window. Leonard gently pulled her towards him. "Listen…you are right. I should have been more open with you. It wasn't for any nefarious reasons…it was just my life back in here in New Jersey doesn't hold a lot of happy memories for me. When I moved to California, I wanted it to be a fresh start. Come back to the bed, I'll tell you everything."

They walked back over to the bed and sat down, still holding hands. Leonard grinned at Penny. "So there was this girl Jessica in third grade…I gave her a peck on the cheek once."

Penny smirked and gave Leonard a little punch. "I'm being serious here…"

"Ok, ok. I just wanted to see that beautiful smile again. So….I dated one girl in high school, but it was nothing serious. High school was just a lot of unrequited crushes for me. When I went to Princeton, I actually didn't meet a lot of girls there. I met Ainsley through Hayley. She was one of her friends. But she was so different than the rest of her friends…a lot of Hayley's friends were these Park Avenue Princesses…but Ainsley was into lots of other things, like music, art, fantasy movies and books. We got along really well, and ended up dating for a few years."

Leonard looked at Penny who started to look quite upset again. "Penny, I'm not the same person I was when I started dating Ainsley. I was just a young college kid then. So was she. I'm sure she's not the same person at all anymore either. She's part of my past, and I honestly never even think about her anymore."

"Not the same person? Leonard you are still into all those things….I'm not. Maybe you two would have been perfect together if Ainsley hadn't broken up with you."

"Ainsley breaking up with me, was the best thing that ever happened to me. Because of it, I moved to California and I met my true soulmate. The woman who touched my soul in a way that no one…NO ONE has ever before. The person I laugh with, the person I'm dying to see every day, the person that lights up my whole day with one little smile. That's you Penny. You are that person. It was never Ainsley."

"Oh Leonard…" Penny said stroking his face. "How do you know the exact right thing to say all the time" she said smiling wiping the tears away from her eyes.

Leonard smiled tenderly at Penny. "Well…I am a genius. Kidding aside, I know what to say, because I'm simply telling you the truth. You are my heart Penny." They embraced in a tender hug. "Now as for my family, I guess I'm just not that close to them. Michael was always an obnoxious brat. Hayley was always busy in her own world with her friends and work. I was closer to Hayley when we were kids, but as adults we just all kind of went about our own paths. Emily, I just met last night also, but I'm not overly impressed with her."

"Really? I thought she was really nice" Penny interrupted.

"Well speaking of family, Hayley called us over for lunch. It'll give you a chance to meet her and the family better.

"Hayley?" Penny whispered to herself with a frown. "I guess…it will be nice to meet the kids. They sound really cute."

"Oh they are. You'll just love them. It'll be fun." Leonard pulled Penny tighter in their hug. "Are we good?"

Penny smiled and gave Leonard a light kiss on the lips. "We are good" she said softly.

"Great!" Leonard said hopping up. "We better get ready, if we want to get into the city on time. Hayley hates when people are late." He walked into the bathroom and started running water in the sink to shave.

Penny shuddered as she looked at herself in the mirror. A couple hours with the woman that Emily described as a bitchier meaner version of Beverly Hofstadter? Penny shook her head. Lunch with Hayley Hofstadter was going to be anything but fun.

* * *

Phoebe swung her legs back and forth as she was sitting on the kitchen counter. She was watching her mother rip up lettuce leaves for a salad and put it in a large wooden bowl. Phoebe looked over at the large pot of chicken tortilla soup simmering away on the stove filling the kitchen with an intoxicating smell. Tortilla soup was her favourite.

Hayley smiled at Phoebe "What do you think of lunch? Soup, sandwiches and salad. That should be good right?"

"It smells yum. I just wish we didn't have to have people over AGAIN. We just had so many people here last night" Phoebe complained as she stole a piece of avocado from the salad.

"It's not just people, it's family. Leonard and Penny. You want to meet Penny don't you? Also Michael and Emily."

Phoebe scrunched up her face. "Noooo…..not Emily! I want to meet Penny…but I don't want to see Emily. I hate Emily!" She eyed the pot of soup. "Can we do something to her soup? Like put dish soap in it?"

Hayley grinned. "Hmmm…..let me think about that one. Do you think her mouth would go all frothy if she ate it?"

Phoebe giggled. "Maybe when she tries to talk a bubble will float out of her mouth!" Hayley and Phoebe both burst out laughing.

"Hayley!"

Hayley turned around to see her husband Nate frowning at the two of them. He walked over to Phoebe and picked her up off the counter and set her standing on the floor.

"I can't believe you're encouraging this type of behaviour. I want Phoebe to be a good person, not a bitchy one like her mother."

"Language Nate!" Hayley hissed frowning at Nate.

Nate shook his head. "Oh please…With you..that's the least of our problems." He glanced at the counter. "And why was Phoebe sitting on the counter? That is so unsanitary…we prepare food there. " Phoebe looked guiltily back up at her mom.

Hayley sighed as she watched Nate gather his keys and wallet. "Hey where are you going? My brothers are coming over for lunch. You know that…I told you earlier. Penny's coming, and we haven't met her yet."

Nate glanced down at his phone. "Hayley, I have things to do It's my busy season, and I don't have time for these countless parties you're throwing for your brother. I'll just catch up with Penny at the next boring party." He grabbed his keys and walked out of the kitchen. "Later Phoebe" he called out as he closed the door. Hayley stared at the closed door for a minute not saying anything. He couldn't even be bothered to say goodbye to her…

"Mom?..." Phoebe said worriedly

Hayley's phone buzzed. She grabbed it tensely and looked at the text. It was from her mother.

 _Hayley, the caterer you chose for last nights party was truly disappointing. I would have thought you would have done a better job considering it's for Michael. Thankfully, you are not planning any other events for him._

Hayley tossed down her phone on the counter and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes…sometimes she wished she could stay at work all the time…at least someone cared about her there…

"Mom?...the doorbell rang." Phoebe said quietly.

"What?" Hayley looked at Phoebe snapped back into reality. She rushed over to the front door and opened it. Leonard and Penny were standing there with a bottle of wine.

"Leonard, Penny! Please come in. You're right on time." She ushered them into the foyer of the house. She leaned over and gave Penny a little hug. "So nice to finally meet you Penny."

"You too" Penny said apprehensively as she looked at Hayley. She was not quite she had expected. Hayley was a little taller than her, wearing white capris and a royal blue cowl neck tank top. Her eyes were really quite striking, they had an animal like intensity. She was quite attractive, she reminded her somewhat of Leonard but she also had a different look. She looked more closely related to Michael. She spied a little girl with curly brown hair staring at Hayley from around the corner with a sad worried look. That must be Leonard's niece Phoebe. Penny gave her a little wave and a smile. Phoebe gave a shy smile back but went back to staring at Hayley.

"Please come in, let's go to the living room." Hayley said as they walked into the house. "You didn't have to bring wine Leonard, but that was really sweet of you."

"Mom?" Phoebe called out.

Hayley glanced back at Phoebe. "Just a minute hon." She turned back to Leonard and Penny. "You both must be hungry. I have some canapes in the kitchen. Let me get some for you." Hayley headed towards the kitchen.

"Mom I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to upset you!" Phoebe burst out crying.

Leonard, Penny and Hayley all looked at Phoebe startled. Hayley walked over to Phoebe. "Can you please excuse us for a minute" she called out as she took Phoebe into the kitchen.

Penny frowned. This must be what Emily was talking about last night. That Hayley was so hard on Phoebe and criticized her all the time that she was super on edge. Poor thing must cry all the time with a mother as critical as Hayley must be. It appeared that Emily was telling the truth.

In the kitchen, Hayley crouched down to Phoebe's height and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Sweetie why are you upset? You never did anything to upset me."

"It's all my fault. I'm the one that suggested putting soap in Emily's soup. And I was the one that hopped on the counter and sat there. Then dad got mad and yelled at you, and you were upset. But it was all my fault" she sniffed.

Hayley pulled Phoebe into a hug. "Sweetie…you did nothing wrong ok. And I'm not upset with you in the slightest. Dad just doesn't understand how we joke sometimes. And don't worry about the counter. It's no big deal. Your dad is just stressed about work…it's nothing you did ok."

"Ok" Phoebe sniffed.

"Listen, our lunch is going to probably be a bit boring. If you want, you can take your soup and sandwich and eat in the family room and watch a movie." Hayley smiled.

"But I'm not allowed to eat in there…"

"Well today is you lucky day. I'm giving you special permission. You can come out later and say hi to everyone. Sound good?"

"Yup!" Phoebe said happily. She gave Hayley a hug and then scampered into the family room.

Hayley returned to the living room where Penny and Leonard were waiting anxiously. "Sorry about that…it was just a small misunderstanding from this morning. She's fine." Penny looked at Leonard and frowned. Silence filled the room but it was soon interrupted by the doorbell ringing.

"Oh that must be Michael. I'll be right back" Hayley said as she walked towards the door.

Hayley opened to door to see Michael and Emily standing there. Michael was in a shorts and a t-shirt, and his hair was wet, like he had just come from the shower. Emily was wearing an orange sundress. Hayley narrowed her eyes. "You're late Michael."

"Oh hello to you too." Emily said bruskly as she walked past Hayley and into the house.

Michael grinned at Hayley. "How can I be late when I wasn't invited?"

Hayley gave Michael a playful tap on the cheek. "Oh Michael…when will you learn you will never outsmart me. What better way to get you to come than not inviting you. I knew you were coming all along. I know I have to keep an eye on you."

"Well you win…you get to be dazzled by my company and not just your other boring brother. So what do you think of Nickel?"

"Ssshhh! They are just in the other room. I don't know yet, I've barely had a chance to talk to her yet." Hayley whispered. Michael winked at his sister, and walked into the house.

Michael, Emily and Hayley walked into the living room together where Leonard and Penny were sitting. "Hey Leonard and Penny. Do you mind if we eat right away…I'm starving" Michael announced.

"I guess….everything is ready. Let's all head into the kitchen then." Hayley replied. The group followed her into the bright white sunshine lit kitchen.

Michael walked straight to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. He proceeded to gulp down the entire bottle in less than thirty seconds.

"Thirsty much?" Leonard said staring at his younger brother curiously.

"I think I'm dehydrated or something. I had the most amazing workout this morning" Michael grinned. He popped a couple canapes in his mouth. "I'm famished. How about we eat?" He grabbed a sandwich off the tray on his way to the table.

Emily smiled at Michael. "I'm hungry too. I had a very busy night last night after the party" She winked at Michael.

Hayley grimaced. "Oh God…Please spare us the details. We are trying to eat here…I don't want my food coming back up."

"You look like your food comes back up on a regular basis. Is that how you maintain your heroin chic body?" Emily sneered.

Leonard glanced at the scene before him. Michael was sitting at the table wolfing his second sandwich with a stupid grin on his face. Emily and Hayley already looked like they were going to kill each other, and Penny was staring at all of them with wide yes, stunned at the scene before her. He sighed….it was going to be another interesting lunch at the Hofstadters…

 **A/N: So sorry the for extremely late update on this story. Long story short, I was very very sick…and then the show has been kind of bumming me out, so I lost my writing mojo. Please review, because today is my birthday, and reviews are always a nice little present! Thanks!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The group all sat down at the large kitchen table, while Hayley brought over the sandwiches, soup and salad and placed it on the table. With the appetizers already there, it was quite the feast for lunchtime.

Leonard smiled at his sister. "Wow Hayley, you really shouldn't have gone through so much trouble. But it looks really awesome. Thanks so much for having us over." He looked at the empty chair. "Where is Nate? I thought he was going to be here?"

Hayley bit her lip nervously as she ladled the soup into everyone's bowls. "Oh Nate sends his apologies. He's super swamped with work, so he couldn't make it today. But he said that he'll catch up with both of you soon." She nervously looked away, and concentrated on distributing the soup.

Michael grabbed his third sandwich, and dipped it into his bowl of soup and took a large bite. "Mmmm…Hayley…this is so good. You really are a good cook" He closed his eyes and smiled while chewing.

Hayley looked at her brother puzzled. "What is with you? Why are you eating so much? Is that your third sandwich? You've had a dopey smile on your face since you've come in…"

Emily pursed her lips. "Excuse me. Most normal human beings eat Hayley…especially when they exercise. Michael is smiling because he is happy. I'm sure you're unfamiliar with that particular emotion, because I'm sure you've failed to elicit it out of Nate. I keep my man very happy." Emily cooed stroking Michael's arm.

Hayley raised her eyebrow. "Oh really? Well I rarely see you smiling Emily. You just look like a constipated bitch half the time. What does that say about your happiness making skills Michael?"

Michael burst out laughing and grinned at his sister. He couldn't help it…he loved it when Hayley went into bitch mode…Emily could never match wits with her. Emily smacked Michael on the arm. "Don't laugh" she hissed. "You should be defending me." Emily put up her hand over her mouth and turned to Penny. "See…what did I tell you? Hayley is just awful" she whispered.

Penny smiled sympathetically at Emily and then glanced over at Leonard who was frowning at his siblings. He had mentioned something earlier about not being a fan of Emily, but he didn't go into it. Yesterday at the party, Emily seemed so warm and kind, as did Michael. They both told her that Hayley was this awful person, but Leonard had never mentioned anything too negative about his sister to her. Just that she was into her own life and friends. He did say that Michael was a spoiled brat.

She glanced at Michael….she could see that he had the makings of being a brat. Tall, good looking,cocky, a little too charming for his own good, she knew the type well. She looked over at Emily. Emily and Hayley had been at each others throats since they had arrived. The things she had said to Hayley had been quite nasty…it was not the sugar and spice persona that she had the previous night. Hayley seemed a bit harsh herself, but it seemed more in response to Emily than anything she had initiated.

But what about what happened with Phoebe when she came in? Emily had told her that Hayley had Phoebe so on edge with criticism all the time, that she was a mess. Then she burst out crying when she had thought she had upset Hayley? Perhaps Emily was speaking the truth…. One things was for sure. She needed to keep her wits about her with Leonard's family. It was amazing that Leonard turned out to be such a sweet and caring person growing up in this environment. It was actually a little bit puzzling. Why was Leonard missing that harsh edge that his brother and sister seemed to possess?

Leonard cleared his throat. "Well I was hoping to have a pleasant lunch with my brother and sister. Without all the bickering" he said pointedly.

Michael smiled and raised his water glass. "I agree. Let me take this opportunity to officially welcome Penny to the family. We are all so happy that you could spend this special time with us." Michael turned to Leonard. "And to Leonard, it's great to see you after all of these years…and let me tell you…you sure have great taste in women!" Michael winked at Leonard who gave him a confused look back.

The group all looked awkwardly at each other, and clinked their glasses. Hayley threw Michael a puzzled look at his last statement.

"Well it's so great to meet all of you too. I've been wanting to meet Leonard's family, and with us getting married soon, it's the perfect opportunity. Thank-you for this welcome lunch Hayley, and I'm really looking forward to getting to know you all better this week." Penny said with a warm smile.

Hayley sipped her water and smiled. "Welcome to the jungle Penny. It's so nice to finally meet you too."

"Oh I'm sure you'll find MOST of the family to be wonderful Penny." Emily turned to Hayley. "Where are those little cherubs Phoebe and Daniel? Therapy?"

Hayley glared daggers at Emily. "No. Not therapy. Daniel's on a playdate, and Phoebe is in the other room watching a movie. Why? Do you plan on apologizing to Phoebe for pushing her away when she gave you a hug?" she asked staring directly at Emily. Penny gave a shocked look to Leonard.

Emily laughed nervously as she glanced at Penny. "Oh Hayley, you are over exaggerating as usual."

"Actually she's not." Leonard interrupted. "I saw it with my own eyes I really can't think of a good reason for you to do that Emily."

"But, I –" Emily started.

"Let's not all jump on Emily here. I think she was just having a bit of a bridezilla moment, right hon? Em was feeling bad that Phoebe was upset, and wanted to see her today. Right?" Michael said tensely while looking at Emily annoyed. She was ruining any groundwork that she had laid down with Penny yesterday with her behaviour today. He glanced at Hayley who had a huge smirk on her face. Dammit she was loving watching Emily squirm. He needed to get Hayley out of the picture..and fast.

Emily looked lost for words. "Ummm….right." She cleared her throat. "It was really just a big misunderstanding…"

Hayley's phone buzzed on the table. She picked it up and a warm smile broke out on her face. She smiled and then got up and put the phone down on the kitchen island and went to check on dessert that was warming in the oven. Michael glanced at her phone. He needed to grab her phone before it locked and required a password. He picked up his cellphone and got up.

"Sorry I need to make a quick call" Michael announced. He swiped Hayley's phone underneath his and headed down the hall. He glanced at the phone. Perfect, it had not locked yet with Hayley's password. He quickly hit the home button glanced at the icons.

He started with text messages. She obviously just got one that made her happy. He opened the app, and at the top was a message from someone named Mitchell. Wow, there were hundreds of texts from this Mitchell fellow. He quickly started reading the messages. Michael frowned. There was nothing damning in those texts, they appeared all to be quite innocent. There were lots of messages about enjoying Hayley's original pieces. What could that be about? Other messages seemed related to Hayley's work. There was a lot of flirty banter between them though. Mitchell must be a colleague from work….and a very close friend. Perhaps there was something there after all.

He opened her email. There was nothing too interesting in there. Again a few emails from Mitchell regarding some study they were working on. He opened up her photos and quickly scanned through. Ugh….It was like any typical mother, filled with pictures of sickeningly sweet pictures of Daniel and Phoebe.

"What are you doing?" he heard in an accusing tone.

Michael turned around to see Phoebe glaring up at him. She was staring at him with a deep frown. "Why are you going through my mom's phone?"

"Oh hey Cutie! Oh my phone isn't working right, so I'm just borrowing your mom's phone to look something up.

Phoebe gave him a questioning look. Just then Michael's phone dinged with a text message. Michael glanced at it quickly. It was a text from Emily telling him to come back to the table.

"Your phone looks like it's working" Phoebe said.

Michael gulped and quickly put his phone back in his pocket. "Oh my text messaging works. It's just google. I'm not sure why it isn't working." His email made a ding as a new message arrived.

Phoebe frowned. "Well if you are still getting email, then your internet it working –"

"-Well, what are you watching here? Teletubbies?" he asked trying to divert the conversation.

"Teletubbies? That's for babies. I'm watching –"

"-Sorry Phoebes…gotta get back to the table, or they will think I'm being rude." Michael interrupted. "Maybe Emily will come join you later and watch your little cartoon with you." He quickly turned from Phoebe's annoyed face and headed back into the kitchen.

He returned to the kitchen to see Leonard, Penny and Hayley laughing. Emily was sitting there with a bored look on her face.

"Sorry about that, what did I miss?"

"Oh we were just talking about Hayley's Christmas essay on historical proof of why prominent psychiatrists make the worst parents. God did mother ever have it out for you that Christmas after reading that! I'm surprised she still graded it a B" Leonard laughed.

Hayley laughed. "It was so worth it to see the look on her face when she was reading it. It was well researched and written, I really should have gotten an A, but you know how she's biased. Michael could have probably drawn a rainbow and said I love unicorns, and that would have gotten an A."

Leonard snickered. "I know! I think a bunch of my essays garnered a much higher mark than I received." He glanced at Michael. "Oh to be the golden child."

Michael grinned. "Oh, it's not easy being this perfect."

Emily stroked Michael's arm. "I'm sure your essays were miles ahead of theirs. And as for playing favourites, I guess your mother passed that down to you Hayley? Is that why poor Phoebe is so on edge? You favour little Daniel?" Emily gave a little look to Penny. "And we can clearly see you favour Leonard over Michael here."

Hayley gave Emily an icy glare. "Phoebe is not on edge, I'm not sure where you are getting that from. I love both my children equally." She looked over at Leonard and Michael. "I love BOTH my brothers….more than you could ever possibly understand."

A cold tension filled the air as the three siblings looked at each other. Penny gave a little cough and put down her napkin. "Could you please excuse me, I'm just going to go to the washroom." She got up and exited the kitchen.

Penny sighed as she walked down the hall. There was so much tension between the siblings and Emily. Emily really seemed to be going out of her way to antagonize Hayley. Leonard had said that he wasn't overly impressed with Emily and she was starting to see why. Hayley seemed alright, except when she was bickering with Emily. The thought though that Hayley was being over critical of Phoebe was troubling her though. She could see the negative effect Beverly had had on Leonard, so it was not such a stretch to think perhaps Hayley was unwittingly doing the same thing to Phoebe.

As she approached the washroom, she saw a family room with a large built in TV with a cartoon playing. The wall had built in shelf filled with family pictures, books and DVDs. There was a small piano off to the side. She spied Phoebe on the couch watching the movie that was playing. She smiled as she gazed at her. Phoebe was simply adorable. She had the exact same brown curly hair as Leonard. She wondered if Leonard and her children would look like her.

Penny entered the family room. "Phoebe?" she said softly.

Phoebe turned from the movie and saw Penny standing there. A warm smile broke out on her face. "Hi Almost Auntie Penny!" she called out.

Penny laughed and walked over to the couch. She sat down beside Phoebe and glanced at the TV. "Despicable Me! I love that movie."

"Me too!" Phoebe exclaimed. "It's my very favourite movie." Phoebe smiled at Penny and stuck out her wrist that had a small bracelet on it. "I knew you were coming today, so I wore the charm bracelet you and Uncle Leonard bought me. I love it…it's so pretty. Uncle Leonard told me that you picked it out."

Penny smiled. "Oh I'm so happy you like it. You have lots of cool charms. Is that a little violin?"

"Yes! I play the violin. Mommy does too. She also plays the piano. And Uncle Leonard plays the cello. One day we are going to jam." Phoebe looked at Penny thoughtfully. "Uncle Leonard told me you were nice, and I think he is right. I'm told I'm a great judge of character."

"Oh sweetie, I think you are pretty great too! Listen, I want to tell you something. I want you to know that everybody loves you, and that you don't have to be perfect all the time to be loved. All you have to do is be yourself, and that is always good enough. So don't stress and worry, just be yourself and have fun. I know your mommy might push you to be perfect all the time, but she loves you no matter what. So don't stress if you feel like you're not sometimes."

Phoebe gave Penny a confused look. "What are you talking about?"

"You were really upset when we first came to the house. I've heard that your mom can put a lot of pressure on you sometime. I just wanted to make sure you were ok and let you know you don't have to be perfect all the time."

Phoebe went silent and was staring down at her bracelet. Her eyes darted towards the kitchen as Michael, Leonard and Hayley's voices rang through. She finally looked up at Penny. "Can I give you some advice?" she said quietly.

Penny looked at her surprised. "What? You want to give me advice? Well…..ok. What do you want to tell me?"

"Don't trust Uncle Michael. Or Emily….I just hate her. But mostly Uncle Michael. He lies…..he's not a nice person. He's spying on my mom" she whispered.

"Spying? Phoebe..I'm sure you just misunderstood."

"I did not misunderstand. You are new. You don't understand how things work in this family. Just please trust me. Uncle Michael lies."

Penny looked at her shocked to hear such serious words coming out the mouth of a seven year old. Why did she have such a deep mistrust of Michael?

"Hon? You ok out there? You've been gone for a while?" Leonard called out from the kitchen.

"I'm fine. Just chatting with Phoebe" Penny yelled back.

Penny squeezed Phoebe's hand and looked into her bright hazel eyes. "I trust you" she whispered. Phoebe returned her smile.

"I got to get back to the table" Penny said. Phoebe nodded.

* * *

Penny headed back into the kitchen and sat down at the table. She reached for Leonard's hand and held it tight. She looked across the table at Michael. He appeared to be such a happy go lucky guy. Cracking jokes, playfully teasing Hayley and Leonard. Was there much more to him than meets the eye?

Emily's eyes lit up when she saw Penny had returned. "Penny! I'm so glad you are back. I was going to ask your permission if we can steal away Leonard from you for the next few days? I really want him and Ainsley to create that fairy tale presentation for our wedding reception. Ainsley is an amazing artist."

Leonard cleared his throat. "Oh I don't know about that Emily. It's going to take a lot of time, and now that Penny is here in New York, I'd rather take her sightseeing, than be working on this last minute presentation. I'm not sure how good it will be, with this sprung on us as the last moment. I'm sure you want everything to look professional for your wedding. I'm sure your wedding planner already has something gorgeous put together."

"But Leonard!" Emily whined. "This was supposed to be from his BROTHER which would have made it special! You are here for MY wedding! Not some sightseeing trip with your fiancé!"

Michael shot Emily a dirty look and stood up. "Could you please excuse us for a minute. Emily and I need to talk." Michael said tensely. He grabbed Emily's hand and pulled her into the hallway. Hayley smirked and got up to tend to the dessert that had been cooling.

Penny turned towards Leonard. "Listen, you can work on the presentation with Ainsley. I trust you Leonard. If Emily really wants this for her wedding, maybe you should do it."

Leonard sighed. "I really don't want to. I'd rather be spending time with you."

"I know…me too" Penny whispered.

"How about this? I'll spend one day working on it with Ainsley. That's it. I don't want to waste any more time on it. Then we can spend the rest of the week seeing the sights. "

"Deal" Penny smiled and gave Leonard a light kiss.

* * *

Michael pulled Emily into the library. "What the hell are you doing Emily? Are you trying to undermine everything we set up?" he snapped.

Emily glared back. "I'm trying to get this plan moving along! How else are we going to get Leonard and Ainsley together?"

"God! You have the subtlety of a chainsaw. There were a million different ways I could have gotten those two alone together, without you acting like a whiny bridezilla! You were supposed to endear Penny to yourself. Instead you've been antagonizing my sister all afternoon, which makes Haley look like the sane one, and you like a raging bitch."

"Oh and we wouldn't want to upset your DEAR sister" Emily sputtered.

Michael looked at her coldly. "Yes she is my DEAR sister, and no you do not. What we should have done is get Leonard and Penny feeling all insecure about their relationship. To get them fighting. To set Leonard up to fail. All we've done is have you look crazy and vindictive."

"Excuse me! I didn't see you making inroads along that path! At least my comments about Hayley will get Penny thinking she is a terrible parent."

Michael shook his head in frustration. "Well anyways, I swiped Hayley's cellphone during lunch and looked through it. I think something is up with her and one of her coworkers Mitchell."

"She's hiding something?" Emily asked.

"She's definitely hiding something. I think it's the key to what truly going on with Hayley. I'm going to surprise Hayley at work and see what I can find out tomorrow. Maybe I can get some insight in what's going on in that head of hers."

"I'm going with you" a voice responded.

Michael and Emily both turned around startled to see Penny standing there. "Penny!" Michael exclaimed. "What are you doing here? What did you hear?"

"Oh Hayley asked me if I could call you back for dessert." Penny responded. She looked at Michael and Emily staring at her with a worried look. She went over to the library door and closed it. "Listen, I heard you say that Hayley is hiding something….and I agree. Poor little Phoebe. That little girl seems so stressed and upset. I want to help Phoebe, and if finding out what is going on with Hayley will help, then I want to come."

Michael looked at her cautiously. "Are you sure? I'm just worried about my sister….You don't need to get involved. I'm just concerned about my sister, and of course my little niece and nephew."

"I'm sure. I'm going to be your sister soon, and I want to help." Penny said confidently. "Besides, Leonard will be busy working on your presentation."

"….Well..Ok, then. We'll go tomorrow morning." Michael stated finally. Emily shot him a shocked look.

"Great" Penny confirmed. She smiled to herself. Phoebe told her not to trust Michael, and what better way to find out what he was up to than to observe him herself. Little did he know that Hayley wasn't the one in her crosshairs, it was him. She hoped that tomorrow would be enlightening.

 **A/N: Next Chapter, Ainsley tries to seduce Leonard, and Penny and Michael "spy" on Hayley. What will happen? I was actually not going to continue with this story, as I was told by quite a few different people that it was too focused on the original characters (Michael/Emily/Hayley), and not enough on Leonard and Penny. It's true, it's not. Then, I was going to just make it an original story, and not BBT. But I have the story worked out in my head, and the BBT characters are quite weaved into the story. So I hope you can accept that. While Leonard and Penny may not always have the primary role in this story, they are major players. That's just how I want to tell this story and how I see it in my head. Thanks.**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Penny gazed outside the front window of Leonard's childhood home waiting for Michael to arrive. The sun was shining brightly, and it was turning out to be another hot muggy day. Leonard had already headed out earlier in the morning to meet with Ainsley at her place to work on the wedding presentation. She glanced at her watch. He was twenty minutes late which was not too bad. Leonard had warned her that Michael was notorious for being late. Suddenly a gunmetal grey Aston Martin Vantage with yellow trim pulled up to the house. Penny waved to Michael gesturing that she would meet him in the car.

Penny opened the door. "Nice car!" she exclaimed as she sat down on the soft black leather seats. She looked at Michael who was smiling at her. He was dressed casually wearing jeans and an untucked light blue button up shirt. He took off his Armani sunglasses and set them upon the dash. His bright brown eyes were looking intensely at her.

"Well…it seems like I spend a lot of time stuck in traffic. I might as well enjoy the ride right? I bought you a coffee" he said tapping at the cup that was sitting in the passenger side cup holder. "I hope milk and sugar is ok?"

"Oh wow! Thanks! You didn't have to do that. But yes, that's perfect" Penny exclaimed as she took a big sip of the creamy coffee. "I could have met you in the city, I feel bad that you had to backtrack all the way back to New Jersey to pick me up. I could have taken the train in."

Michael smiled. "Oh not a problem at all…I had a few errands to run here in New Jersey for the wedding. Plus this gives me a chance to get to know my future sister in law" he said as he took a large sip of coffee. He put the car into drive, and they were on their way.

Penny looked at Michael. He seemed much more relaxed and at ease today. At lunch the other day he seemed super relaxed, and grew tense as his sister and fiancé were bickering. Lunch was a curious affair, she was starting to get a bit of insight on the relationship between the three siblings. Her first impression was that the three were not close at all, but she kept observing how the three operated off each other. Hayley came off as confident in her role as the oldest child. Michael seemed the typical youngest child with a playful and teasing nature. It was obvious that Leonard was much closer to his sister than his brother. But there was a definite closeness between Hayley and Michael. It was amusing that he seemed to side with Hayley more than his fiancé Emily.

Penny thought of Phoebe's words to her. She seemed to have a deep mistrust of Michael. He looked like quite the playboy with his good looks, outgoing personality and flashy car. She met guys like him in that past, and most of them had turned out to be bad news. It would be interesting to observe him today, and to find out a little more about Haley. She was still a bit of a mystery, she hadn't formed a solid opinion of her yet.

Michael cleared his throat and looked at Penny nervously. "The drive to Columbia University from here is probably around an hour. Umm….listen. I don't want you to get the wrong impression on what we are doing here. I'm just seriously worried about my sister. She's just been really on edge lately, and she hasn't opened up to me. I just want to see if something is stressing her out at work, that she hasn't told anyone about. That's all. I don't make it a habit to spy on my sister."

Penny looked at him curiously. "Of course not. I would never assume. That's why I am here. I want to help, and little Phoebe looks as if something is bothering her. I'm not about spying on people either."

"Great…well as long as we are on the same page." Michael smiled. "So tell me…how did my brother manage to catch a fox like you…"

* * *

Ainsley adjusted the thermometer in her apartment. She turned it up just enough to make it uncomfortably hot, but not so much that it was not tolerable for a few hours. She went over to the mirror to make last minute touches to her make up. She adjusted short little sundress that hugged her curves in all the right places. Hopefully this outfit would help do the trick. She heard a knock at her door.

"Leonard! " she said as she opened the door. She launched into a warm hug. "It's so nice to see you here. I feel like our last visit got cut short a little too quickly. I was enjoying catching up with you at the party the other night. At least Emily's annoying request can have some good come out of it."

Leonard walked in and walked towards her living room. "That's true. It will be nice to catch up. I still find it a little bizarre that she asked us to do this so last minute. If this was such a big deal, she should have really asked us this months ago. Something seems a bit weird about it…" Leonard trailed off as he set his bag by the couch.

"Oh you know brides…they have a million things running through their heads. Then they see something in a magazine, and think it would be a tragedy if they didn't have that at their wedding" Ainsley laughed.

"Sure, I guess" Leonard replied. He shifted his hoody uncomfortably. "Man it sure seems hot in here? What do you have your thermometer set at?" he said glancing around.

"Oh believe me I know. We got a note from building maintenance today saying that they are having trouble with the furnace. They are working on it today, hopefully they'll sort it out soon." She smiled at Leonard. "You should take off your hoody. Here let me help you." Ainsley started to put her hand up to the zipper.

"Oooh…I got this…no need to help" Leonard said nervously turning away unzipping his top.

Ainsley laughed. "Why so jumpy Leonard? It's not like I haven't seen you naked before. It's just a sweater" she smirked.

"Ainsley! Come on…that was a long time ago. Lots of things have changed since then." Leonard said quietly. He sat down on the couch and threw his sweatshirt onto the nearby chair.

"I know" Ainsley said softly. "Sorry, I just forgot how much I like teasing you. I've really missed you Leonard. I wish we had kept in touch all these years. We had so many good times together." She sat down on the couch beside him.

He smiled at Ainsley. "Well…it was a long time ago. Sometimes it feels like a lifetime ago. We had some good times, but I'm a firm believer in things working out the way they were meant to. I think we are both in good places in our lives aren't we?"

Ainsley bit her lip. "Yeah…you are right Leonard. We are." She pulled out a notepad and a sketch pad. "How about we get started."

* * *

"Wow, I thought the traffic in LA was slow. It's slow here, except everyone is honking and yelling at each other!" Penny exclaimed as Michael turned toward the exit to Columbia University.

Michael laughed. "Welcome to New York. Where the drivers have no filter." He pulled into a visitor spot in the parking lot near Hayley's building. They gathered their things and headed into the reception area. There was a big sign near the elevators that stated that no unauthorized guests were allowed in the building and that a security access card would be needed to get into the elevator.

Michael turned to Penny. "I think this building is pretty secure. I don't think we can just walk up to her office without signing in and getting some sort of pass. But I don't want her to know we are here." He glanced at the pretty brunette girl sitting at reception. "Let me see what I can do."

Penny grinned at Michael. She had a feeling that she was about to see Michael Hofstadter work his charm. "I'll be waiting" Penny laughed as she sat down on a plush grey chair.

Michael went up to the lobby desk and gave the receptionist a warm smile. "Hi there! How are you today?"

"I'm great thank-you." She smiled warmly back at him, a slow blush rose in her face as she looked at his sparkling smile. "How can I help you today?" she said eagerly.

"Well, I was hoping to see my sister. She doesn't know I'm coming, and I really want to surprise her." Michael said.

"Who are you looking for?" she asked sweetly as she twirled her hair looking him up and down.

"Dr. Hayley Hofstadter. I believe she works in this building right?"

"Oh Dr. Hofstadter. Yes she works here. How do I know you are really her brother though?" she said coyly.

Michael glanced at her name tag. He opened his wallet and handed her his driver's license. "Laura…nice to meet you. I'm Michael Hofstadter, and here is my license for proof." He took her hand and shook it and gently held it in his. "Now that we all know who each other are, would you please be able to do me this favour and give me a pass to go see her?" He raised his eyebrow and smiled. "You can keep my license while I'm up there seeing her….It has all my most valuable information." He gave her a little wink.

Laura smiled and realized that she was still holding his hand. She slowly returned her hand to her desk and glanced over at Penny. "Who is that?"

"Oh that's my brother's fiancé." He leaned in towards her and whispered. "I much prefer brunettes."

Laura's face flushed red, and she opened a drawer and pulled a card out. She typed something into her computer and then handed the card to Michael. "I could get in big trouble for this, so you better return it. Dr. Hofstadter's office is on the 6th floor in room 612, her lab is down the hall in room 630. I'm keeping your license as collateral until you do…okay?"

Michael smiled. "You do that. Don't worry, I'll definitely be back to return your card….I look forward to it Laura." He took the card and headed back towards Penny.

Penny gave him a knowing look. "Well that was quite the display. Do you always get what you want?"

"Most of the time Penny…most of the time" he said. "Let's go."

* * *

Leonard wiped the sweat off of his forehead. "Man…this heat is killing me." He put the notepad down on the coffee table.

Ainsley got up from the couch and headed towards the kitchen. "I'll get us something cold to drink." She went to the kitchen and got two glasses and filled them with ice. She took a pitcher of water from the fridge and filled the glasses to the top. She brought them back to the coffee table. Leonard eagerly grabbed the water and started gulping it back.

"Oooh that's so good" Leonard gasped.

Ainsley laughed and took the cold condensation filled glass and put it against her chest. "This feels so nice…" she cooed as she slowly rolled the glass. She put it down, and pulled her long dark hair up into a messy ponytail. She then took her glass and moved along her chest again, moving slowly…oh so slowly. Small droplets of water were collecting on her chest and were started to drip down. She could feel Leonard's eyes on her.

Leonard gulped nervously. "Ummm…well we got most of the story written out. I think it's pretty good. We just need pick a style for the presentation, and of course you'll need to make the drawings that we discussed for each page. I think we could actually get this all done in a couple of hours. Your sketches are really good, I don't think we need to do a lot to make them presentation worthy."

Ainsley turned in towards Leonard. "Well we make a great team. We always did Leonard. Working on this project together really reminds me when we first made the fairy tale story together in university. We locked ourselves in my dorm room for two days straight." Ainsley slowly licked some water off the rim of her glass as she stared at Leonard.

Leonard stared at her. "Aaahh..yeah we did. Ummm…Ainsley – "

"-You know we hardly spent any time that weekend working on that story. Just like this it probably only took a few hours. We spent that whole weekend making love. Over and over again. We were insatiable." Ainsley said dreamily.

"Why are you bringing this up Ainsley?" Leonard said softly.

Ainsley leaned in towards Leonard. "God..I just miss you so much. I miss what we had. We were just so compatible on so many levels. Intellectually we matched, interest wise we had so much in common…sexually…we were off the hook. I've learned in life that you don't meet someone that you mesh perfectly like that too often. That it super special when it happens."

"Ainsley…we were so young then. I've changed. I'm sure that you've changed. We are not the same people that we were back then. While we may have been compatible back then, we probably aren't anymore. I mean that's besides the point. I have Penny –"

"-Penny. Yes you have Penny. But have you asked yourself Leonard how much you and Penny have in common? I'm sure that she is a very sweet person, but why has it taken eight years for you guys to finally get engaged? I've heard that you've broken up and gotten back together numerous times. When things are right, everything should just click into place. You two have very different interests. Sometimes sexual chemistry is not enough Leonard."

Leonard sat up straight on the couch. "You don't even know Penny, I don't know how you can make all these assumptions on what our relationship is like. She is unlike anyone I've ever dated. I've never felt that way about another person…and that includes you Ainsley. You were the one that called off our relationship for a fancy job in Europe."

Ainsley looked at Leonard sadly. "I am well aware of the mistakes I have made in my life. It's been one of life's brutal lessons. I know what a gem I have before me. I'm wiser now though, I know if I ever had a second chance, I would never let you go. I would make it my life goal to make you blissfully happy."

Leonard sighed. "Ainsley..I don't know how to put it more clearly to you than this. I love Penny. That's it. I love her, and she loves me. I'm sorry that you are not happy right now, but looking to the past is not the answer. You're a beautiful woman, sweet and kind. I know that your perfect match will come along for you one day." Leonard stood up. "Listen…I think we've gotten through what we need to do together on this presentation. You can just email me your additions and I'll polish it off. I think it's probably best we stop now."

"Leonard….I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. Just do me a favour" Ainsley said.

"What is that?" he asked.

"Just think things through before getting married. Every facet of your life…imagine how it would be with Penny, and if she is truly the right woman for you. Do that for me, that's all I ask."

Leonard stared Ainsley in the eye. "I will. I know in my heart I already know the answer, but I will." He shifted uncomfortably. "Do you mind if I use your washroom before I leave?" he asked looking down the hallway.

Ainsley sighed. "Sure, it's the second door on the left."

"Thanks." Leonard walked down the hallway and entered the bathroom. He locked the door behind him. What had just happened in the living room? Ainsley was propositioning him? It came out of nowhere. He hadn't heard from her in over ten years, and now she wanted to rekindle things? She seemed a bit different. She had a bit of an edge to her that was not there previously when they had dated. Leonard turned on the tap and splashed some water on his face to cool off. He grabbed a towel from the hook but it knocked something off her shelf onto the floor.

He looked down to see what he knocked over when he saw it was a watch. A man's watch. That was curious, considering that Ainsley was currently single. Why would she have a man's watch on the shelf next to her shower…like it was recently put there? He picked up the watch and looked at it. It was a Patek Philippe watch. Very expensive, he knew it well because Michael was obsessed with their watches since he was a kid. Leonard frowned. Michael….could this be Michael's watch? No…that would be ridiculous. Ainsley and Michael weren't even friends. She was Hayley's friend, and his former girlfriend. Michael had never paid much attention to her at all. Leonard put the watch back on the shelf. He stared at it for a minute before pulling out his phone and took a quick picture of it. He put his phone back in his pocket. It was time to head home.

* * *

Michael and Penny strode down the hall. They slowed down as they approached Hayley's office. The door was open. Michael peered from around the corner and found it to be empty. "Damn! She's not here."

Penny glanced into her office. "Wow…that sure is a lot of papers everywhere. It's like a paper explosion in there. Well maybe she is in her lab. I know my friend Amy seems to spend more time in her lab than in her office."

"I hope so." Michael muttered. They kept walking down the hall. He glanced at the office next to Hayley's. Dr. Mitchell Forrester was written by the door. This was the fellow that Hayley was texting and emailing with. His office was empty also. They continued down the hall when Michael heard his sisters familiar voice laughing.

"That's her…she's in her lab. She's talking to someone" Michael whispered. They leaned against the wall and watched through the hinge of the door that was open and listened.

Penny looked into the lab. Hayley was sitting at lab bench her hair tied high in a ponytail and she was wearing a lab coat. A man was sitting beside her at the bench also wearing a lab coat. He was tall and skinny, and looked like your stereotypical nerdy scientist. They had a large Tupperware container filled with what looked like bread. Hayley took a large piece and started eating it with a big smile on her face.

" _Mmm….Mitchell…this is so good. What do you put in these? " Hayley asked as she munched away._

 _Mitchell laughed. "Cheddar Jalapeno Scones…it's my grandma's special recipe. If I told you, I'd have to kill you."_

" _That's ok…I don't need the recipe, as long as you keep bringing these in." Hayley replied as she reached for a second scone._

Michaels eye's narrowed as he watched the scene confused from the corner of the door. "What the hell?" he muttered.

"What?" Penny whispered. "Those do look good."

"She's eating" Michael hissed.

"So?" Penny replied.

Michael shook his head. "Hayley doesn't eat. She just doesn't. She always eats like a bird..and she never eats bread. Bread! She's eaten two scones in a couple of minutes. This isn't like her."

Penny shrugged and continued watching them through the gap in the door. Hayley looked really happy and relaxed. They appeared to be talking about work again. She glanced up at Michael. He genuinely looked troubled, and was shifting around uneasily. Why was the fact that his sister was eating, bugging him so much?

 _Mitchell took a large sip of coffee. "So Hayley, when do I get to hear your next original piece? Am I going to lose my colleague into the New York music scene?"_

 _Hayley started laughing. "Hardly. I'm no where near the level of musicians that play for a living are out there. It was just for fun, just an open mic night. I'm sure I wasn't that good, you are just being nice."_

" _You underestimate yourself Hayley. You were really really good. The whole room went quiet when you started playing the piano and singing. You could hear a pin drop. You are really talented, you should feel proud." Mitchell stated. He got up and walked over to the sink to wash his hands._

" _Thank-you" Hayley said softly. "That means a lot that you have faith in me."_

 _Mitchell turned around at the sink and smiled at her. "Why wouldn't I Hayley?" He turned back to the sink and continued washing his hands._

"Hayley is playing piano and singing at Open Mic nights? This is really not what I was expecting as a secret she was hiding." Michael whispered. "It's unexpected for sure….but there is not really anything here that explains why she's been acting like a stressed out head case."

Penny continued watching Hayley and Mitchell through the door. Mitchell was washing his hands. He was tall, skinny, had a terrible haircut, and his outfit was unfashionable to say the least. He wasn't the playboy type at all, which Hayley's husband Nate appeared to be. She turned her eyes to Hayley who was watching Mitchell intently as his back was turned away from her. She was staring at him with a quiet smile on her face. But it wasn't just a quiet smile…there was something else there. The look on her face was familiar to her…she knew that look well.

"That's not her secret" Penny whispered.

"What?" Michael said confused.

"She's in love with Mitchell. Completely, utterly, head over heels in love with him. I know that look anywhere. She completely adores him" she said softly.

Michael gently pushed Penny out of the way and gazed at his sister through the gap in the door. He saw her soft smile as she watched her co-worker. Really, it was a look he had never seen on his sister before. She seemed so calm, so happy. She never seemed that way around Nate. Nate was an asshole, but Hayley never said too much about it, so he left it as her own business. Penny was right…he couldn't believe it. Hayley was in love with this fellow. Michael's mind began to swirl at the thought of what they were doing, and his hands began to shake as he felt panic start to build up inside of him.

"Let's go" Michael said tensely pulling Penny's hand. "There's nothing left to see."

* * *

Michael leaned over the sink in the bathroom of the building's lobby and splashed water on his face. His heart was racing and his hands were shaking. What…what was he doing? Hayley was probably the only person in the entire world that he truly cared about. His mom, dad, Leonard, Emily…honestly, he could not care less about. Hayley was different. She had been there for him. She had protected him the best she could. Could he knowingly go in and mess up her life completely? He couldn't care less who Hayley slept with, but this was different. She appears to truly love this Mitchell guy. It was all over her face. It didn't appear that they were in a relationship, but knowing his sister, her feelings probably ran deep. Hayley had been through so much herself, and truth be told, he didn't want to hurt her. This would probably hurt her too deeply. He needed to call this off. At least get Hayley out of this scheme. There had to be another way…a better way.

Michael dried his face with a paper towel when his phone started ringing. He glanced at the phone. It was Emily. He hit talk.

"Hey Em" Michael said quietly.

"Hi Michael. I'm dying to know what you and Penny found out. Anything juicy?" she asked.

Michael sighed. "Oh I think she may have feelings for this Mitchell guy she works with, but Em listen…we need to talk. Let's leave Hayley out of this whole plan. I don't want to get involved in her life, and really she's not that important to the plan. The main issue was Penny's family embarrassing me. We don't need to drag Hayley into this whole thing at all. I'll talk to her, you don't need to worry about her."

"What!" Emily exclaimed. "We can't leave Hayley out. What do you mean we don't have to worry about her. She will interfere for sure. She thrives on interfering! Michael you know that!"

"Emily, I'm serious. Drop the Hayley thing. End of story! We'll figure something else out ok." Michael said sternly. "Listen, I've got to go. Penny is waiting in the car for me."

"Fine, I'll talk to you when we get back." Emily said flatly.

"Ok bye". Michael hung up the phone. He dried his hands and headed back to the parking lot.

* * *

Emily put down her cell phone on the coffee table. What was going on? She should have known not to trust Michael to plot against Hayley. He always had this frustrating soft spot for his "dear sister". Well, Michael didn't always know what was best. She walked over and opened her laptop. She opened Google and typed in Dr. Hayley Hofstadter and Mitchell. She didn't know his last name, and hopefully this would help.

The search page flooded with publications from Hayley and one Dr. Mitchell Forrester. So that was his name. She clicked on a link and quickly read his bio. It appeared that he worked at Columbia University and the two of them did most of their research together. Emily quickly googled the number for the switchboard of the university. She picked up her cell phone and dialed.

"Can you please connect me with Dr. Mitchell Forrester?" She paused as the operator connected her call. "Hello! Dr. Forrester? I'm calling under very serious circumstances. I am a psychiatrist that is treating Dr. Hayley Hofstadter. Of course under normal circumstances, I would never speak to you under doctor patient privilege, but Dr. Hofstadter has developed a dangerous romantic obsession with you, and I fear that you may be in physical danger…."

 **A/N: Oh Oh….Michael called off the plan on his sister, but Emily put it in play. How will Hayley react? Leonard found Michael's watch….will he put two and two together? Thanks for reading and as always I really appreciate your reviews!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Where is that file?" Hayley muttered to herself as she frantically looked through stacks of paper in her home office. She continued rifling through the piles of research papers, before finally spying a blue file folder sitting on top of her printer. Thank God…she needed that file for work today. She could now continue getting ready, prodding the kids to get finish getting dressed, and hopefully they could have breakfast together for once. Mornings at their house tended to lean on the chaotic side. She could hear the kids fighting in the other room, and the radio playing loudly as Nate was showering in the bathroom upstairs.

Hayley rushed over to the kitchen. She had gotten up early and chopped up some vegetables and fruit. She looked at the ingredients thoughtfully. Things had gotten so negative between her and Nate lately, and she was so tired of the tension between them. Instead of trying some big gesture, perhaps doing small things for him would show that she cared would help melt the ice between them. She smiled as she cut the last of the strawberries. Hopefully making his favourite breakfast would be a step in a right direction to show him that she was trying. He loved a good western omelette. She put the cut up strawberries and bananas in the blender to make a smoothie. It would be nice to have the family sit down for a nice breakfast all together. She started sautéing the mushroom, onions and peppers in a pan with some butter.

Phoebe came running into the kitchen, followed by Daniel. "Mom! I hate Daniel! Tell him to stop bugging me!" she whined.

"I'm not bugging her! Now I'm bugging her." Daniel ran over and stomped on Phoebe's foot.

"Ouch! Quit it!" Phoebe hissed as she shoved Daniel knocking him to the floor. Daniel promptly started crying in the highest pitch he could register.

"Both of you, quit it! Phoebe go to your room now and finish getting ready. Daniel the same for you. I expect you both to be dressed, hair combed, teeth brushed, and backpacks ready to go. We are going to all have a nice breakfast together before you go off to day camp. Now be down here in ten minutes, and if I hear any more fighting between you two, you are both in BIG trouble. Now go."

Hayley rushed back to the stove and continued cooking her vegetables. Her phone buzzed with a text. She picked it up off the counter and glanced at it. It was from her mother.

 _Beverly: Hayley, can you please coordinate your wedding day outfit with Emily's wedding planner, as she is concerned you may pick on outfit that is gaudy, and she doesn't want the family photos ruined at the wedding._

Hayley clenched her phone. Stupid Emily…now she was working through her mother. This wedding couldn't be over soon enough. Her phone buzzed again. Mother again.

 _Beverly: Try not to wear blue or purple. It makes you look even more pale and washed out than you normally are._

Hayley threw her phone back down on the counter. "Thank-you mother" she muttered. She added the eggs to the omelette pan and it made a light sizzle. She threw the fruit and some milk into the blender to make the smoothie.

Nate walked into the kitchen. "What's all this racket?" he said while glancing at the stove and the blender.

Hayley smiled at Nate. "I thought it would be nice if we all had breakfast together before we went to work and the kids to day camp."

Nate shook his head. "This sounds like a classic plan for you to get all flustered in the morning." He walked over to the stove and peered into the pan. "What is that?"

"What do you mean what is that? It's an omelette. I know you love omelette's so I'm making you one" she said with a hopeful smile.

"It looks kind of strange" Nate sighed. "You didn't put onions in it did you? I don't want to go to work with onion breath." He made a face as he looked at the food.

"You can always brush your teeth after" Hayley said quietly. She poured him a smoothie. He sat down and the table with the eggs and smoothie. He quickly pulled out his phone and quickly became engrossed with it. He poked the eggs with his fork but did not take a bite. The kids came barrelling into the kitchen and sat down at the table.

"You missed meeting Penny the other day," Hayley said to Nate. "I didn't know what to expect of her, but she actually seems really down to earth. I think she'll be a good match for Leonard." Hayley said.

"Mmmm…." Nate replied still staring at his phone, clearly not listening.

"Mom, I'm not eating foods with the letter "e" in them this week. I can't eat this!" Phoebe exclaimed. "Eggs has one e. Strawberry Smoothie. That has two e's!"

"Oh my God Phoebe…I don't have time for this. Just eat what I've prepared" Hayley said exasperated.

"I'm going to eat a banana and a granola bar. See no e's!" Phoebe exclaimed happily. She turned to her dad. "Guess what, at day camp we are doing a play called Dreams for the Future. Daddy, what are your dreams for the future?"

Nate glanced up at Hayley and rolled his eyes. "I gave up on having any happy dreams years ago."

Hayley bit her lip and looked at Nate sadly as she felt her stomach churn. Why did he have to be so hateful all the time. She looked sadly at his untouched plate of food.

A loud honk from a car sounded from outside the house. "That must be Jenny's mom to pick us up. Bye Mom and Dad!" Phoebe said. Her and Daniel grabbed their backpacks and left the house. Nate stood up and walked over to his briefcase.

"Nate, you didn't eat anything." Hayley said. "I thought you would like it…it's your favourite."

"Not hungry. Listen, I've got to run. Don't wait up, I'll be home late." He walked over to the back door and opened it. "Oh Hayley?"

"Yes?" she replied quietly.

"Great job on this little breakfast fiasco. It went as well as I expected." He smirked and closed the door.

Hayley shakily sat down at the kitchen table and put her hands over her eyes. Hot salty tears started streaming out uncontrollably. There was nothing she could do to hold them back any longer. Why was everything so hard all the time? Why was it every time she tried to make this better with Nate, or at least show that she cared it backfired in her face. He always made her feel like such a failure. She was trying, she really was…but it all seemed for naught sometimes.

Hayley picked up her phone and opened her photo app. She scrolled back through hundreds of photos until she came upon one of Mitchell. He hated having his picture taken, so she didn't have too many pictures of him. She smiled as she gazed at his warm kind smile on her phone. He was the only person in her life that was kind to her. That believed in her. He was so smart, and interesting, and kind to everyone he crossed paths with. What would have life been like if Mitchell had loved her? If he had been her husband instead of Nate? He would never be cruel to her. He was the kindest man she knew. He would build her up and support her instead of constantly being torn down. She felt a tingling in her stomach that went all the way to her toes whenever she thought about him.

Hayley shook her head. What was the point in thinking like that. She was married. Mitchell was her colleague and friend. She doubted he ever had thoughts like that run through his head. Her phone buzzed again with a text message. Hayley opened the app, this time it was from Emily.

 _Emily: Hi Hayley. I hope you have a WONDERFUL day! Kisses. Em._

Hayley looked at her phone confused. What the hell was that about?

* * *

"Man Leonard, we have created quite the feast!" Penny exclaimed as she set a plate full of toast down on the table. Penny sat down. The kitchen table at the Hofstadter family home was filled with every breakfast dish they could come up with from raiding the fridge and pantry.

"What can I say…being back home has made me ferociously hungry" Leonard grinned. He filled Penny's mug full of coffee. "We've both been running around since we got here, and this is the first real alone time we've gotten. Mom's out all day, and we can do whatever we want today. You and Michael got home so late, and you were so tired. I never got to hear about your day out with him."

Penny took a big sip of coffee. "It was interesting. I got to know Michael a lot better. Sorry we got back so late, I can't believe the traffic here. We spent the majority of our time just not moving on the freeway. How was working on the presentation with Ainsley go? I take it by the fact that you are not heading over there today that you two got everything done?"

Leonard shifted his toast around on his plate. "Umm..Penny. Actually I wanted to talk to you about yesterday at Ainsley's. It was kind of strange."

Penny frowned. "Strange? How so?"

"Well, I mean….the presentation went well. We got it all pretty sorted out. But Ainsley was acting weird. Umm… towards me." Leonard said hesitantly.

Penny raised her eyebrow. "Weird how? Leonard what's going on?"

"Well, she kept making references to our past together. Aaah…intimate references. Then she implied that our relationship was unstable, and that we didn't have much in common. "

"What!" Penny exclaimed. "She doesn't even know me, or anything about our relationship! How can she say that?"

"That's exactly what I told her! I told her in no uncertain terms that I love you and only you, and whatever she was suggesting – "

"-Suggesting? What did she suggest?" Penny demanded.

"…well she mentioned that if she ever had a second chance, she would do everything in her power to make me blissfully happy." Leonard said quietly.

Penny threw down her napkin on the table. "That's it! She's in for an ass kicking. This whole presentation thing was farce. I knew something smelled fishy." Penny got up and started pacing around the kitchen. "She totally planned this whole thing from the beginning. From what we can see Emily is a total control freak about her wedding. Why would she have you and Ainsley throw together a presentation last minute that's going to be shown during the reception? An ex girlfriend you haven't spoken to in a decade! Why didn't she ask the two of us to work on it together? You know Emily would have every detail of her wedding worked out to the final detail months in advance. It was just a ploy to get you and Ainsley together. That bitch! Now why are Ainsley and Emily working together? What would Emily have to gain from any of this? They didn't really know each other before this whole wedding did they?"

Leonard cleared his throat. "Well, I don't think so. Ainsley was Hayley's friend, and my ex girlfriend but that was long before Emily ever entered the picture. I'm not sure how their paths must have crossed."

Penny continued pacing in the kitchen with her arms crossed. She snapped her fingers. "Hayley. Hayley is the only common factor between Ainsley and Emily. She must be involved in this scheme somehow."

"Hayley? Why would Hayley want me and Ainsley to get back together? That makes no sense. And her working together with Emily on it? That makes even less sense. You saw how much those two dislike each other."

Penny looked at Leonard thoughtfully. "Maybe it makes more sense than you might think. Ainsley is a good friend of Hayley's. She probably thinks you two make a good match. If you started dating her again, then you'd probably move back to the east coast. She mentioned to you the other day how much she wished you still lived out here. Then her brother is dating her friend, and is back close to her family. It makes perfect sense."

Leonard shook his head. "It was just such a long time ago Penny. I really can't believe that she would suddenly want me together with Ainsley out of the blue."

"Well…it was probably Ainsley pushing for this. Perhaps she was missing you and mentioned it to Hayley. It probably got her thinking" Penny mused.

"Wouldn't Ainsley try to contact me first? I honestly don't think Hayley would intentionally try to break up our relationship like that. It just doesn't seem like her. Also, Hayley convincing Emily to go along with her plan…I really don't see that happening." Leonard countered.

"Maybe she got Michael to help her convince Emily. Michael and Hayley seem close. I think you may not know Hayley as well as you think you know her. She's living a bit of a double life. You know how little Phoebe has been all upset and we haven't known why. Well I think Michael and I stumbled upon the real reason yesterday. She's in love with another man!"

"What!" Leonard exclaimed. "What are you talking about?"

"Michael and I popped in to see her at her office yesterday. She's completely in love with her co-worker. It's written all over her face. Little Phoebe is probably picking up on her parents marital problems, which is probably why she's so on edge."

"Hayley's cheating on Nate? Penny are you sure? Did you actually see anything that really confirms that?"

"Leonard, I know that look anywhere. She is totally in love with the guy. I don't know if they've acted on the feelings, all I know is that she's into the guy."

"Well, I'm not going to go in guns blazing and accuse my sister of all of this…cheating, aiding Ainsley in trying to break us up. I suggest we sit down and talk to her. Hayley and I have always been close. I know she'll be honest with me. This whole thing is unbelievable…" He trailed off.

Penny sat back down and picked up her piece of toast. "Well, I guess we have our plans sorted out for today then?"

Leonard sighed. "I guess we do."

* * *

Hayley walked out of the elevator doors and towards her office. Today was off to a bad start, and she had so much work to complete. She walked over to her office door and glanced door next to hers. That was strange. Mitchell's door was closed and the lights were off. He usually got in much earlier than she did. She walked in and sat down at her computer.

Her first email was from the department head informing her that the date for publication in the journal had been moved up, and they would need to submit their final paper to the committee by Wednesday next week. Next week! When was she going to find the time? The wedding was this weekend, and she would have no free time at all. She needed to talk to Mitchell right away about this. She grabbed her phone to call him but was interrupted by a knock at her door. It was the department head Gary Ma. He was standing there with a perplexed look on his face.

"Hayley what is going on? We are all thrown in a whirlwind with this news." he said tensely.

"What are you talking about? What news?" she asked.

"Mitchell. Surely you must now as you two work together."

Hayley could feel an uneasiness start to rise in her. What had happened to Mitchell? Was he ok?

"What about Mitchell?" she said panicked. "I'm in the dark here."

"He just sent me notice of an unscheduled leave of absence. I have no idea when he is going to be back to work. Did he tell you anything? What is going on? This is so unlike him." Gary exclaimed.

Hayley looked at him in shock. What was going on? She had just spent all afternoon working with Mitchell yesterday, and he never mentioned anything. Something must have happened to him last night. Perhaps with his family? She needed to find out right away.

"I have no idea. I'll try calling him and talking to him."

"Please do. Listen we need the paper submitted by early next week. The future of the grant money depends on it. Will you be able to complete it without Mitchell around?" Gary asked.

"I'll try" Hayley said faintly. She was staring at her cell phone sitting on her desk.

"You'll need to do more than just try. I'll leave you to it." Gary left her office.

Hayley grabbed her cell phone. She needed to call Mitchell right away to see what was wrong. Leave of absence? This sounded so serious, she hoped that he was ok. She went to his contact and hit dial.

 _I'm sorry this number is no longer in service. Please redial or try again._

What was going on? His number no longer worked? She texted him at this number all the time. It was so unlike him to not tell her if something major had happened to him. She could feel a wave of panic take over her body. Her hands started to shake, and she started to feel slightly dizzy.

"Oh God…please let him be ok" Hayley whispered. She looked at her desk and the panic started to increase. Mitchell was in the middle of writing a key section of their paper. She didn't even have a draft of his portion. All their work would go down the tube, if they lost their grant money because they didn't submit their paper. Her phone kept buzzing with notifications of new emails to her personal account. She quickly opened it to see if perhaps Mitchell had written her there. She quickly scanned the emails. Dammit they were all to do with the wedding and various dress fittings and hair appointments.

Her hands started trembling. She knew she was falling into a panic attack. The wedding, Nate, Mitchell missing, trying to finish the paper with no time…. She needed to get out of there. To get back to a place where she felt in control. She needed to go home. She grabbed her purse and headed towards the door. Her phone buzzed with a text. It was Leonard.

 _Leonard: Hayley, we need to talk. Where are you?_

Hayley's fingers trembled as she typed.

 _Hayley: Heading home now._

 _Leonard: Ok, I will see you there_ _in a bit. Heading in from NJ._

Hayley popped her phone in her purse and headed out the door.

* * *

Hayley walked in the door of her house and tossed her purse on the couch. She couldn't stop worrying about Mitchell. He was her best friend in the whole world. He would never just disappear without telling her what happened or why? It was so weird. Hayley felt overwhelmed by a feeling that something bad had happened to him. Tears filled her eyes. She didn't think she could handle it, if Mitchell was hurt. He was the most amazing person that she knew. He was so kind to everyone, he tried to help his friends whenever he could, he was brilliant and funny and sweet. She loved him. She knew she shouldn't, but she did.

"God please keep him safe" she whispered.

Her phone buzzed and she leapt across the couch to get it. She dumped the contents of her purse out and grabbed the phone. It was a text from Emily.

 _Emily: Has your "lover boy" gone missing Hayley? Tsk tsk tsk…_

Hayley looked at the phone in shock. What was she talking about? Was she talking about Mitchell? She went to Emily's contact and hit dial.

"What are you talking about Emily?" Hayley said tensely.

Emily laughed. "Gigs up Hayley. I know all about you being in love with your dorky co-worker Mitchell. I wonder if Nate knows? More importantly dear Hayley…you know who DOES know…Mitchell."

Hayley gasped. Mitchell knew that she has feeling for him? How did Emily know this?

"I don't know what you are talking about, and why you are dragging my colleague Mitchell into this. If you are playing one of your stupid little games Emily, you better stop." Hayley hissed.

"Stop pretending Hayley. I found out about your deep pining for your tall skinny science boy. And I thought I'd do the "sisterly" thing by not stopping in the way of true love. So I helped you out and told Mitchell that you had feelings for him. Well I don't want to hurt your feelings but he did not react well. Turns out he's not interested. So not interested that he really doesn't want to see you anymore at all. Changed his number and everything. Well who could blame him. You are a psycho nutcase. Who would want that!" Emily laughed.

"You told him I loved him?" Hayley croaked.

"I did. Boy Hayley, you must really leave a bad impression for someone to leave their prestigious job and change their number…all to get away from you!"

"Oh my God…" Hayley whispered tears running down her face.

"Checkmate Hayley. Checkmate. The queen is dead, and her king has run away. There is a new queen in town, and don't you ever forget it. If you try to interfere in my life, all this will seem like child's play. You are to stay out of Michael and I's lives. Do we understand each other?"

Hayley hit end on her phone. It dropped from her hands and onto the floor. She tried to wipe the tears away from her eyes but her hands were shaking so badly. What had just happened? Mitchell was the only thing in her life that was good. She knew that probably he would never love her, but it felt so good to be around him. To be around someone that had such a good soul. And that he liked her, even if it was as a friend, meant so much to her. It meant that she must be ok too. That she was not the horrible person her mother and Nate always told her she was. But it was all gone. It was over is a flash. The thought of her being in love with him had sent him fleeing.

Was the idea of her liking him repulse him so bad that he had to get away from her? Was she that bad? To the point where he left his job and changed his number? Hayley started sobbing. It was all gone. The happy part of her day. His sweet smile. She had ruined it, simply by being herself. Nobody cared…nobody ever did. She was alone in this life she created for herself. He husband looked at her with hate. Her parents never showed her any love or affection. She loved her brothers, but she doubted they loved her the same in return. She was just alone. She was always alone.

"I don't want to do this anymore…" she sobbed to herself. "I've never wanted much. I just wanted someone to love me…" She walked upstairs, stumbling along. When she walked into her bedroom, she knocked over a glass vase that was on a table near the door. She looked as the carpet quickly absorbed the water. The flowers lay strewn along the floor. How long would it take before the flowers withered away without water to sustain them? How long has she existed without any love to sustain her?

She entered the bathroom and slumped against the wall. "Why am I never good enough? Why?" she whispered. There were no more tears.

* * *

Leonard parked their rental car outside Hayley's home. He turned to Penny. "Let's not go in full of accusations. We don't know the whole story, or if Hayley is even involved in this ok."

Penny nodded. "Don't worry. This whole thing is totally messed up. I have a feeling though, Hayley probably knows more than she has let on."

"Well let's see." Leonard replied. They went up to the door and knocked. There was no response. He rang the bell, but there was no response either.

"That's weird. She said she was heading home. Let me call her cell." Leonard pulled out his phone and dialed his sister's number. They could hear the phone ringing from the other side of the door.

"She's home. I can hear her cell phone inside ringing." Leonard said puzzled. He tried turning the knob of the door. It was unlocked. They entered the house.

"Hayley?" Leonard called. His voice was met with silence. He looked over at the living room couch. The contents of Hayley's purse were dumped all over the cushion. Her cell phone was lying on the floor on the rug. "Why is her stuff dumped all over the place?" He suddenly looked panicked. "I hope she is ok"

"Hayley!" Leonard bellowed looking around frantically.

Penny ran into the kitchen calling her name. She ran through the lounge and the library. There was no sign of her. "Upstairs?" she suggested looking at Leonard.

They both sprinted up the stairs. They could hear a faint noise coming from the master bedroom. They ran over the master bedroom door when Leonard abruptly held out his arm. "Stop!" he yelled.

Penny stopped abruptly. There were shards of glass all over the carpet, and a bunch of flowers strewn all over the floor. They could see the bathroom door ajar and the sound of the shower going.

"Something is wrong, I know it." Leonard said urgently. They gingerly walked around the broken glass and into the bedroom.

"Here, let me check in the bathroom, in case she is showering." Penny said. Penny walked into the bathroom. She saw Hayley sitting on the floor of the shower fully clothed with her head cradled between her knees. Ice cold water was blasting down on her. She was whimpering softly but seemed to take no notice that Penny was standing in the room.

"Hayley!" Penny exclaimed. She ran over to the shower and turned it off. "Hayley?" She touched her shoulder, but Hayley continued rocking back and forth not taking notice. "Leonard get in here!" she yelled.

Leonard ran into the room to see his sister shivering on the floor of her shower rocking slowly. "Hayley, what's wrong! Talk to me."

Penny went and grabbed a bunch of towels from the rack. "She's freezing Leonard. She's not responding at all."

Leonard wrapped his sister up in the fluffy towels and put his arms around her. "Hayley…it's ok. We are here. It's me, Leonard. It's ok now, sweetie, it's ok. What happened Hayley? Please tell me what's wrong." He pleaded as he held her tight.

Hayley just stared blankly at the wall, tears still streaming down her face.

"Leonard…I'm scared. I think we should get her to the hospital quick. Something is really wrong with her. It's like she doesn't even see us here." Penny whispered.

Leonard held her tight in his arms. "You're right. Grab some warm clothes from her closet. Let's get her to the hospital fast."

 **A/N: Poor Poor Hayley. Things are about to get super crazy at the hospital. Please stay tuned! I would really really love to read your reviews. Thanks so much!**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Michael sighed as he leaned his head back on the headrest of his car. Traffic was not moving...again. It was nice to be back home in New York City from Boston, but traffic was definitely something he did not miss at all. How long had he been stuck in the same spot on the expressway? He glanced at his wrist to see his watchless arm looking back at him. Dammit, where did he leave his watch? He had quickly looked in their apartment this morning but didn't see in his usual spots. Michael groaned in frustration. That was his favourite watch, and it cost him a fortune to buy. He needed to find it before the wedding, it was an important part of his outfit.

Michael's in-dash display flashed with an incoming call from Leonard Hofstadter. He hit the answer button.

"Hey Hey Leonard. What's up?" he said cheerfully.

"Michael where are you right now?" Leonard's voice came through sounding panicked.

"In Manhattan. Stuck on the expressway as per usual. Why?" Michael asked.

"Listen, I don't want to tell you this while you are driving, but you need to get to Mount Sinai Hospital right now."

"What? Leonard what's going on? Is it Mom? Dad?" Michael asked urgently.

There was a slight pause before Leonard's voice returned. "It's Hayley, Michael, it's Hayley. " Leonard's voice cracked as he spoke the words.

Michael could feel his heart stop momentarily. Hayley…oh my god…what had happened to Hayley? "Leonard! What is going on? Tell me now. She wasn't in a car accident was she?"

Leonard sniffed and cleared his throat. "No…no car accident. Penny and I went to see her at her house. We found her on the floor of her shower with cold water blasting on her rocking back and forth, completely unresponsive. She was conscious, but it was like she wasn't there. She didn't notice us or anything…she just kept crying. We couldn't get her to snap out of whatever trance she was in. We took her to the hospital straight away. She's in with the doctors right now. Mom was nearby the hospital so she is here now too."

Michael gripped the steering wheel as he felt a wave of panic hit him. "Do you think somebody hurt her…physically?" he stuttered, barely able to get the words out.

"I don't know Michael….I don't know. Things at her house didn't seem right "Leonard croaked.

"I'll be there right away. I'm trying to get off this stupid expressway as we speak. I'm not too far away, so I'll be there soon."

"Ok, call me when you get here. Listen, I've got to go, some of the doctors are leaving Hayley's room" Leonard replied. The call ended.

Michael edged further to a right lane trying to make his way to the first possible exit. Of course no one was letting him in. He edged his car in, to the loud sounds of honking motorists. His stomach was churning. He had just seen Hayley yesterday, she looked so happy. Really it was the first time in so many years that he had seen her looking so happy. What could get her this despondent so fast? It sounded like she had some sort of debilitating panic attack.

His hands were shaking, and he was filled with a really bad gut feeling that this had something to do with him. He didn't know why…but that ache and feeling was there. He had told Emily yesterday offhandedly about Mitchell. She wanted keep Hayley involved in their plans, but he had kiboshed it. When he got home, she didn't make any mention of it….which wasn't like her. Normally she would have argued til she was blue in the face, but she didn't. She was just prattling on about wedding plans and what not, and he was too exhausted to really notice. Did she say something to Hayley? If he asked her straight out she would completely deny. He would have to have his wits about him when he talked to her, let her think that he was supportive of whatever she said. It would bring her defences down, and hopefully he could find out what happened.

Michael's mind flashed back to the words Leonard and just spoken. Hayley lying on the floor of her shower. She couldn't stop crying…. Michael's eyes teared up at the thought of his sister that way.

Well he may totally be on the wrong train of thought, but there was only one way to find out. He grabbed his phone and selected Emily's contact then hit dial. The phone rang through the hands free in his car.

"Hi Love!" Emily said happily. "How's your day going?"

Michael wiped the tears from his eyes and cleared his throat. "I'm good, I'm good. Just stuck in traffic, and thought I would give you a call. How's your day?"

"Oh you know...busy busy. Dress fittings. Final make-up consultation. I've been running around all day. It'll be nice when the wedding is done, and we can get back to spending time together. Just the two of us" she said sweetly.

Michael took a big breath. He would need to question based of her reactions, and his questions were going to be a total shot in the dark. "So…Em. I just had a very enlightening conversation with Hayley. Do you know anything about that?"

Silence met him on the other end of the line. "I don't know what you are talking about" Emily said tensely.

Michael stared ahead at the road as he made his way to the off ramp. Emily had hesitated, and then her whole demeanor changed. Her voice sounded cold. She was lying. He knew it. But what did she do? "Come on Emily, didn't you think Hayley would tell me everything? The first thing she did was call me. Well all I've heard for the last hour was her side of things, but to be fair, I want to hear your version."

"I don't know what you are referring to" Emily said coolly.

Dammit. She wasn't giving anything away. He would need to throw out his guess and make it sound convincing. "Don't play dumb Em…I know you talked to her about Mitchell." He bit his lip hoping his guess was correct.

Emily sighed. "Well I'm sure she blew it out of proportion as per usual."

Bingo. Now what could she have told Hayley, that would upset her so badly? There was nothing there that would push Hayley over the edge was there? Well hopefully he could draw it out of her. He was doing everything in his power not to completely rage at Emily right now, but that wouldn't help him in finding out. He needed to gain her trust. Make her feel that he supported her over Hayley….but not lay it on too thick.

"Em, I thought we agreed that we were not going to involve Hayley in the plan to split Penny and Leonard. I really think this was unnecessary."

"Michael, I love you dearly, but you have a major blind spot when it comes to your sister. I could see it at lunch the other day. She likes Penny. She likes them together. There was no way she was going to stand by watching us interfere with their relationship. She needed to be dealt with."

"Well…you may be right. She did seem to like Penny a fair bit. I don't want anything interfering in our plan for Leonard and Penny. But is she truly distracted?" Michael said fishing.

Emily laughed. "Well I say mission accomplished on getting her distracted. She'll be too busy trying to figure out where Mitchell went to focus any attention on Leonard and Penny or even us for that matter. I mean that was the ultimate goal wasn't it? I must say, I deserve a pat on the back for my powers of persuasion. I got Mitchell so freaked out, that he took a leave of absence and even changed his number."

Michael felt his mouth go dry and his hands started to tremble so badly on the steering wheel. It was killing him not to say anything at this point. He took another big breath. "You were always a star at persuasion. It's why you were such an amazing trial lawyer Em. But what exactly did you say to Mitchell, that would make him leave work? I mean that's pretty extreme." Michael threw in a nervous laugh.

"Oh it was fabulous Michael! You would have loved it. I told him I was a psychiatrist treating Hayley, and that she had a romantic obsession with him. Like a scary, build a shrine with his pictures type of romantic obsession. I told him that she had taken a dangerous turn and was turning violent in her obsession. That she had hurt a small bird when he did not respond to a subtle advance she made one day. I told him it would be best to keep away from her while she got treated for her brain chemical imbalances and undergoes heavy psychoanalysis to deal with her obsession with him. If he didn't, he was at real risk of physical violence from her."

Michael gulped and his eyes filled with tears. He was filled with rage and sorrow at the same time. "Very cunning Emily. Very Cunning. But don't you think that would mess up her career? I mean that's going a tad too far don't you think?"

"Oh, we can just tell Mitchell later that the psychiatrist that phoned him was a fake. Tell him it was some psych patient that had an obsession with Hayley or something like that. Then he can go back to working with her. Michael, did you see this Mitchell guy? I saw his picture online. He's such a goofy nerdy looking guy. Nate is so much better looking than him. I really have to question Hayley's taste in men."

Michael pulled into the parkade of the hospital. He could barely see, and his hands were trembling so bad. He parked his car. "Well Congratulations Emily."

"On what hon?" Emily asked.

"On putting my sister in the hospital. You are officially the second worst person I know. I fucking hate you more than words can express. I HATE YOU! I told you not to do this, but you did it anyways. Hayley was right…you do have no soul."

"Michael, I – " Emily started.

Michael hit end on his hands free. He looked into his rear-view mirror. Staring back at him was the person he hated most in the world. Himself. He was the one dreamed up this plan to manipulate his sister and brother in the first place. And now she was hurt, and it was all because of him. Hayley was the one who played with him and taught him things when they were young. She was the one who protected him when he needed it. Hayley got nothing but grief from their mother, indifference from their father, and finally disdain from her husband. His actions destroyed the one last thing that was giving her happiness in her life. All for what? So he could play senator one day? Tears flowed out of his eyes. He had destroyed the only person that he had ever loved.

* * *

Leonard watched intently as Beverly Hofstadter was in a deep discussion with Hayley's attending physician outside her hospital room. "How long can those two talk? I need to know if Hayley is alright?" Leonard whispered to Penny.

Penny grabbed Leonard's trembling hand and squeezed it tight. "I'm sure they are almost done. You know how doctors get when they are talking shop."

Leonard took his other hand and rubbed it through his curly hair. He sighed and leaned back into the chair. "I'm so scared. I've never seen Hayley like that. She always seems larger than life, but back there she seemed so tiny and helpless. She was crying with no expression on her face. God what happened to her? "

Penny rubbed Leonard's shoulder lightly. "I know….I just saw her yesterday afternoon, and she seemed super happy. I don't know what changed."

Leonard pulled Penny into a hug. "What changed?" he whispered. "What changed?" They stayed in the embrace until Leonard's nerves started to calm slightly. Leonard squeezed Penny's hand. She had really been a rock during this whole experience.

Leonard turned on his cell to check for texts or voicemails. He turned to Penny. "I've been trying to call Nate since we've got here, but it goes straight to voicemail. I sent texts but it doesn't say 'read'. I don't know where Phoebe or Daniel are, or if they need to be picked up? I don't know what we are going to tell them about their mom…." Leonard trailed off.

"I know" Penny exclaimed. "I tried calling from my cell too, but I got no response. Maybe he doesn't respond to out of state numbers?"

"We'll get Michael to call him from his phone when he gets here. Or mother…if she ever stops talking to Hayley's doctor."

Penny looked up and down the hall. "Speak of the devil.."

Michael was walking quickly down the hall towards them. He looked pale and his eyes were rimmed red. He quickly spotted them and walked up to them.

"How's Hayley? Is she ok?" Michael asked urgently.

Leonard pointed towards their mother speaking with doctor. "They've been talking for over half an hour. I'm still waiting to find out. Listen, can you call Nate? We've been trying endlessly, and he hasn't picked up any of our calls. He needs to know about Hayley and we don't know where the kids are, or if they need to be picked up."

Michael grabbed his phone and called Nate. He picked up on the second ring. "Dude…do you not answer your phone? Listen, Hayley's in the hospital, Mount Sinai. What?...I don't know? I really don't care...I think she had a panic attack" Michael said softly as he wiped a tear from his eye. "Seriously? Don't be such a fucking asshole for once in your life….no I do mean that. What about the kids?…uh huh…Ok. See you soon." He hit end. He turned to Leonard and Penny. "He said he'll arrange for the kids to be picked up and taken to a friends, and he'll be here soon."

Leonard narrowed his eyes. "What was Nate being an asshole about?"

"-Michael! Thank God you are here." Beverly exclaimed as she walked over to Michael and gave him a hug. Penny shook her head as she watched Beverly ignore Leonard.

"What did the doctor say? Is Hayley ok?" Leonard asked.

Beverly led them to the sitting area and the four of them sat down. "I had a long discussion with her doctor. She appears to have suffered what we call a psychotic break. This can happen when a person undergoes acute stress. We don't know exactly what triggered this in Hayley, to have such a severe reaction. They checked her over for physical and sexual trauma, but she appears to be ok. Right now they have sedated her, as it was the only way to calm her down. Sometimes sleep can aid in calming the patient. But upon awakening, they are going to start her on Anxiolytics, specifically Benzodiazepines. Its an anti anxiety medication used for severe cases. Hopefully she will be able to tell us what is troubling her."

"Can we see her?" Penny asked softly.

"Well she is sleeping, but we can go in the room and see her. She may be able to hear us, so please only say positive calming things." Beverly turned to Michael. "Sweetheart, I'm so sorry this happened right before your wedding. If I had known Hayley was so unstable, I would have taken more off her plate. She may be still able to attend by Saturday, we will have to wait and see."

"I could not care less about my wedding. I just want to see Hayley and make sure she is ok" Michael said tensely. He stared at his mother. How could she be thinking about the wedding when Hayley was lying in a hospital bed? He could tell Leonard was thinking the same thing by the dirty look he was shooting their mother.

The group got up and headed to Hayley's room. It was small and cramped, but at least it was a private room. Hayley was sleeping on the bed, with an IV hooked up to her arm. She looked so small and helpless in the pale blue gown. Her heart rate and blood pressure were being monitored. Her skin was pale and her lips were void of the rosy hue that was normally there.

Leonard walked up and gently stroked her hair. He gave her a soft kiss on her forehead. "Hayley…it's me Leonard. I wanted you to know that I love you. I love you so much. And I will do anything in my power to help you any way I can. I'll be here waiting for you when you wake up." He gently picked up her hand and gave it a light kiss. He walked back to Penny and held her tight.

Beverly walked up to Haley. She awkwardly took hold of her hand. "Hayley. I hope you feel better soon. I have many thoughts on your future medical treatment that we can discuss." She dropped Hayley's hand and walked back towards the wall.

Michael was staring at his sister. He did this to her. He put her in the hospital bed. Memories flooded into his head. Her taking care of him when he was sick, her protecting him as a child, them bored to tears together at various social functions where they snarked and laughed and had such a good time. She was always there for him. Always. Even when he didn't deserve it. And now look at her. Frail…weak…lying helpless in a hospital bed…all because of him. The guilt was rising up in him so badly he wanted to vomit.

"I…I…gotta get out of here." Michael stuttered. He ran out of the hospital room and into the hall. He leaned against the wall, closed his eyes and took a number of deep breaths in hopes that the dizziness would clear.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" a familiar voice called out in front on him. He opened his eyes to see Leonard staring angrily at him.

"Michael…Hayley needs us right now. She needs our support, and you run out of the room? I know you are scared. Believe me, I am too. But it's time for us to be strong for her. It's bad enough that Nate is so late, and Dad hasn't even bothered to show up." Leonard said quietly.

Michael looked sadly at Leonard. How could he tell him that he put their sister there. That this was his fault? He could barely look at Hayley he felt so guilty. Leonard brought up a good point though…where the hell was Nate? He pulled up his sleeve to look at his watch. "Dammit" Michael muttered, and pulled out his phone to look at the time.

Leonard eyes narrowed as he watched Michael. He was behaving so strangely. His eyes focused on Michael's bare wrist.

"Where is Nate? He works just a few train stops away, he shouldn't have taken this long" Michael sputtered. "I should have listened to Hayley. Nate's not kind to her. She mentions it in little conversations we have. How he always on his phone when he's with her, how he's never home, how he makes passive aggressive comments about how she is as a mother and wife. Hayley always made jokes about it, and I never paid much attention. I mean…I just always thought Hayley was dealing with it in her own way. I should have listened to her Leonard. But I didn't" Michael confessed. "I've been a bad brother in so many ways…to both of you."

Leonard looked at Michael empathetically. "Listen, I haven't been the best brother either. I kind of got wrapped up in my own life back in California, I haven't called Hayley or really tried to talk to her in ages. I didn't even know that her and Nate were having marital problems. But just because we haven't been the best brothers to her in the past, doesn't mean that we can't change that going forward. She needs us now."

"I know.." Michael said as his voice broke. He looked down the hall again for Nate. He looked to his wrist again to see the time. "Damn.." he muttered.

"Forget your watch this morning?" Leonard asked quietly. He pulled out his phone and discretely looked at the picture of the watch he had taken in Ainsley's washroom.

Michael sighed. "Misplaced it. I looked all over for it this morning. I'm sure it's somewhere in the apartment."

"Was it a Patek Philippe watch?" Leonard asked watching Michael's face closely.

"Yeah" Michael mumbled. "Nate should have really been here by now." He leaned against the wall and glared at the empty hallway.

"Was your watch band black, with a black and grey face? Leonard questioned further.

Michael looked at Leonard puzzled. "Yes, that's right. Did you see it? Did I leave it a Mom's when I came by for brunch there the other day?"

Leonard cleared his throat. "Umm…no. I just remember seeing it at brunch that day and thinking it was nice." His mind was swirling. What was Michael doing at Ainsley's place? Was he involved in Ainsley's sudden interest in him? Was he just trying to distract him so he could spend time with Penny? That would make a lot more sense, considering Michael's character. But would he really hit on his brother's fiancé days before his own wedding? And why would Ainsley go along with it? He needed to find out more.

Penny entered the hall. "You guys…Hayley is waking up. Can you come back in here?"

The two brothers looked at each other seriously, and entered back into the room. Hayley was opening her eyes with long blinks due to the sedative she was given earlier. Her eyes started darting around the room and a frightened look was appearing on her face.

Leonard sat down beside Hayley and took her hand. "Hayley it's me. Don't be scared. You are safe here. You had a panic attack, and now you are at Mount Sinai hospital. Don't worry about anything…everything will be ok. Your loved ones are here, and we'll help you in every way we can. We love you Hayley." He leaned down and gave Hayley a soft kiss on her forehead.

Hayley looked around the room. Leonard and Penny were there with worried expressions on their faces. Michael was leaning against the wall looking pale, his eyes rimmed red. Her mother was standing with her perfect posture against the wall looking at her contemplatively. Her father was not there…but that was to be expected. He never seemed to bother anymore. One key person was missing…Nate.

"Where is Nate?" Hayley whispered with a cracked voice.

Michael and Leonard looked awkwardly at each other, but the Michael jumped in. "He's on his way. He had to make some arrangements for the kids which is why he's a bit late, but he's on his way here -"

A gentle rapping on the door interrupted Michael. Penny went to open the door and Nate was standing outside in his overcoat and suit. "Sorry I'm late" he whispered. He entered the room and walked up to Hayley. He gently moved a strand of hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. "How are you doing sweetheart?" He bent down and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek.

Michael's eyes went wide as he watched Nate kiss his sister on the cheek. He closed his eyes and tried to not focus on what he had just seen. He clenched his hand and cracked every knuckle in his hands. He felt his breathing go erratic, and he tried to focus on taking long breaths. He needed to stay calm….for Hayley's sake.

Leonard stared at Michael. What the hell was wrong with him? Michael was sweating, he had his eyes closed and he was clenching his fists so tight they were turning white.

Nate spent a minute speaking with Hayley and then left the bedside and leaned up against the wall next to Beverly. He pulled out his phone and opened Facebook and started scrolling down through his feed. A smile broke out on his face.

Michael looked up at Hayley who was staring at Nate. A tear was forming in her eye as she watched him scrolling on his phone with a smile on his face. That was it. He couldn't take it anymore. He saw the bright red mark on Nate's neck when he had leaned in to kiss Hayley. And now he was on Facebook? Fucking Facebook?

Michael walked up to Nate and grabbed his phone out of his hand. "You love your fucking phone so much, why don't you marry it!" He hissed. He threw the phone on the floor and stomped on it to a distinctive crack. Hayley's eyes went large watching the scene before her.

"What the hell Michael!" Nate yelled angrily. He shoved Michael back. "You are paying for that! Why the hell did you do that!"

Michael walked back up to Nate and punched him hard in the face.

"Oh my god!" Penny yelled. Leonard scrambled up to get to the other side of the room where Nate and Michael were. Leonard tried to pull Michael back but he shoved him away.

"I hate you, you bastard! My sister is in the hospital and you treat her like this?" Michael slammed Nate again, and he fell to the floor. Michael pinned Nate and continued punching him over and over.

"You useless piece of shit!" _SLAM_

"You couldn't even BE A DECENT PERSON…THIS ONE TIME!" _SLAM_

"Michael stop this!" Beverly yelled frantically.

Hayley started to cry as she watched her brother beating her husband to a pulp. Penny grabbed a hold of her and held her tight, trying to shield her with her body from watching the scene.

"Stop it!" Penny yelled as she continued shielding Hayley.

Leonard tried in vain pulling Michael off, but he was in a complete state of rage. He wouldn't budge, and he was focused on his task. Leonard threw himself on Michael in a full body tackle knocking him off Nate. He pinned Michael to the ground.

"What the hell is wrong with you Michael?" Leonard yelled as he pinned his brother's arms down onto the ground.

Nate scrambled up, holding his hands up to his bleeding face. "This whole family are a bunch of crazy loons. I swear! Michael you'll pay for this….don't think I won't press charges." He yelled.

Michael wriggled one arm free and picked up a piece of Nate's shattered phone and threw it at Nate's head. "Don't forget your fucking phone."

Nate left the room and slammed the door shut. Michael burst into tears on the floor, with Leonard still holding him down. Hayley could be heard sobbing in Penny's arms. Leonard looked up at Penny. "What is going on here….."

 **A/N: Next chapter, more big secrets will come out! Ready for Angry Penny? And Emily pays a visit to the hospital…how do you think Michael will react? Thank you so much for the reviews. They really mean a lot to me, and I appreciate you taking the time to review. I'm sorry I didn't reply to the reviews last week, but I was quite sick. I will get back to all of you ASAP to thank you!**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

An awkward tension filled the room. Michael was now sitting on the floor with his head between his knees crying and Hayley was sobbing in Penny's arms.

"What is going on here? Michael? What on God's green earth possessed you to go after Nate like that. AND after I told you to keep the room calm?" Beverly demanded.

Leonard looked over at his brother. He had never seen him lose control and fall into a total rage like that before. He knew he was hiding something. First his behaviour with Hayley was strange, he was so nervous and jittery around her. It was almost like he was avoiding her. Then there was the whole business with the watch and Ainsley. The more he thought about it, the deeper Michael seemed to be involved. But what exactly did he do?

Penny continued holding Hayley until she stopped crying. Hayley wiped the tears from her eyes and stared at her two brothers sitting on the floor. Everything started flooding back into her memory. Nate, the breakfast, the kids, work, the wedding…Mitchell. A wave of embarrassment washed over her. How could she let a panic attack take her over like that? She was normally so good at keeping herself under control. Her lists, her records, making sure she did everything just so. It was her way of maintaining control. She had let herself spiral. What would her family think of her if they knew that she had lost it over a man who didn't even love her? And now the man who was supposed to love her, just got beaten to a pulp by her brother.

Hayley stared at Michael who was rocking back and forth on the floor. He knew what happened. He knew everything. That much was obvious to her. It was time to get the truth out of him. "I want to talk to Michael alone" she said in a raspy voice.

Leonard looked at her concerned. "I don't know if that is a good idea. We are supposed to keep you calm, and Michael's behaviour has been anything but normal since he got here."

"I need to talk to Michael. Now. Alone." Hayley repeated with a cold voice.

"I don't want Michael upsetting you any further" Leonard said seriously. "You've been through enough today. I think it would be best if you two talk tomorrow. You need your rest."

Michael had his head between his knees, his arms wrapped around his calves. His knuckles were starting to show a purple blue bruising. He looked up at Hayley. "Leonard's right….you need your rest. I think it would be best if I leave."

"I know what's best for me. Michael and I need to talk. Could the rest of you please leave. Now." Hayley repeated.

Leonard looked at Penny worriedly. He took Hayley's hand. "Are you sure? There's nothing that can't be discussed tomorrow. When you feel stronger. Hayley, I'm worried about you."

Hayley squeezed Leonard's hand. "I'm ok, Len. Just let me talk to Michael. I'm ok. We just need to talk please?"

Leonard gave Hayley a concerned look. "Ok, you two talk. But I'm going to come back in ten minutes. If you feel upset or anything at all, just call me, and I'll be right there." He turned to Michael. "After this performance in here, you better not do anything to further upset her, or you are going to have to answer to me. Understand?"

"I understand" Michael said softly as he looked up at Leonard.

"Fine, let's go and let them talk. Remember Hayley, call for anything. I have my cell with me. Your cell is on the table next to you." Leonard got up from the chair and he, Penny and Beverly exited the room.

Michael got up from the floor and sat on the chair next to Hayley's bed. He stared at his reddened fists contemplatively.

Hayley gave Michael a penetrating stare. "Tell me everything."

Michael looked up at Hayley sadly. "I…umm...I really…"

"Michael if you care about me, even just a little bit, you are going to be honest with me right now. You are going to tell me everything, and you are not going to spare any details."

"Hayley…I…I just don't want you to get upset again. If I tell –"

"-You let me worry about that. I already lost everything. I just want to know the truth." She looked at Michael seriously. "This wasn't Emily's idea was it?"

Michael eyes filled with tears. "It was mine" he said softly.

Hayley raised her knees up and cradled them to her chest. She looked out the window. "Why do you hate me so much Michael? What did I ever do to you? I'm living through this hell, and Mitchell's friendship was the only thing getting me though. Do you know what it feels like? To be constantly criticized? Belittled? My whole life….first with mom, then with my husband. It feels like every time a person gets really close to me, their love eventually dies. Am I that unlovable? What is wrong with me? Dad doesn't care. Mom does nothing but make me feel inadequate. Leonard's left all of us. Nate was supposed to love me, but all his words towards me are dripping with hate. After everything we've been through together I thought you loved me. Why did you purposefully go out and try to destroy the one thing that was giving me a little glimpse of happiness?" Hayley wiped a tear from her eye as she continued looking out of the window. "I knew Mitchell wouldn't love me either. The idea of me loving him frightened him off" she whispered.

"God Hayley, I am so sorry. I'm so so sorry. I didn't want it to go this way." Michael said wearily.

"Why Michael Why? I can't believe you went screwing around in my life just for fun."

"I only wanted to distract you. Get you so distracted that you wouldn't focus on my attempt to break up Penny and Leonard."

"Penny and Leonard!? This has to do with your stupid plan for Penny and Leonard? Michael I've told you…you can't play God. What kind of person are you? You think nothing of destroying your own brother's happiness for your own gain. You make a plan to hurt me…to distract me…without a thought except your own benefit? I thought you were a better person than that. I know you've been badly hurt…but I still believed..."

Michael looked at Hayley despondently. "Oh Hayley…I am that bad. I AM that bad. Didn't you know? I'm better than everyone else. What has life shown me? I get my way. I get away with everything. I'm smart. I'm good-looking. I'm charming. I can argue my way out of anything. Mom and Dad always praised me. People that get in my way need to be eliminated. I do what I want without consequence. I screw around on Emily constantly. Sometimes I do it just for the thrill! Hell, I'm only marrying her because of her political connections. I don't care about anyone's feelings but my own. I'm a terrible person and I know it. But know this…I didn't want to hurt you Hayley. I thought I could, like I do everyone else. But when it came down to it…I couldn't do it. I saw the way you looked at Mitchell –"

"-You saw?" Hayley said coldly narrowing her eyes at Michael. "How did you see? How exactly did you know anything about Mitchell anyways?"

Michael sighed. "I spied on you. First through your phone. Then we were at your office yesterday afternoon. We saw you and Mitchell in the lab together."

"We? Who is we? You and Emily?"

Michael cleared his throat. "Penny and I."

"Penny? Penny was involved in this plan?" Hayley said shocked.

"No…no, not with the plan. She was concerned about Phoebe and why she was distressed." Michael coughed. "Ummm…Em and I may have planted some seeds of doubt in her head about your treatment of Phoebe in regards to putting undue pressure on her."

"What?! You both told Penny I was a bad mother?" Tears were now flowing freely down her face. "Wow Michael….you really don't care about me…just like everybody else. Despite all you behaviour over the years, I understood it in a way. But I guess a small part of me thought I was different. That you did actually care about me. But I guess I wasn't special after all. I should have known better. I should have known…I should have known, I'm not worth it. It's been the conclusion of my entire life.." she trailed off wiping tears from her face.

"Hayley no. It's me. I'm so fucked up. I don't know what's wrong with me. I need help. You are different. You are special. Hayley I didn't want to hurt you. I called it off. I told Emily that I didn't want you involved. I couldn't do it. I couldn't hurt you that way. Emily calling Mitchell was entirely her idea. It's not you, Hale. She told him some story about you being obsessed with him and hurting animals. She told him she was your psychiatrist. I had no idea she did that. You have to believe me Hayley. Please. Please! I'll do anything to make it up to you. I'll get rid of Emily. You were right, I do hate her. I'll stop this plan with Leonard and Penny. I'll do anything to get you to forgive me. I'm so sorry Hayley. Please. I didn't want to hurt you. It's killing me to see you in here like this."

Hayley looked at him coldly. "If I forgave you, you'll just be getting away with everything. Just like you always do Michael." She turned towards him and whispered. "Answer me this. Why did you hit Nate like that?"

Michael felt all the blood drain out of his face. How could he tell Hayley that on top of everything else? "Hayley…it's not important right now."

"Don't you DARE tell me what or what isn't important!" Hayley hissed.

"I…God Hayley…It was like looking in the mirror. I'm the same as Nate. I'm worse….cause you are my sister. I'm no better than him. I pull all the same crap. I felt so guilty about what I did to you, and when I saw him, it was like seeing myself – "

"What did Nate do? You freaked out. You completely lost it. If I am to believe you have one decent bone in your body, you better tell me right now."

Michael whimpered. "Please Hayley…don't…don't make me say it."

"Tell me now Michael William Hofstadter or I swear to God…"

"He…aaah…He…He had a red mark on his neck." Michael blurted out. He dropped to his knees beside Hayley's bed. "God Hayley, I'm sorry. I am so sorry" he sobbed.

Hayley's face went white as a ghost. She could feel the last piece of emotion drain away from her. "Is that why he was late? Is it Michael?" she whispered.

Michael continued quietly crying beside her. His silence was answer enough.

Hayley sat up straight in her bed. Her arms were covered in goosebumps and her hands slightly shaking. She cleared her throat. "I think I want to be alone now. Tell the others I just want to sleep and don't want to be disturbed." She started pulling the covers up over her legs.

"Hayley, I can't leave you like this. What can I do? I'll do anything to make this better. Please tell me. Please Hayley, Please"

Hayley stared right into Michael brown eyes. "Michael…only you know how to save your own soul. You need to decide for yourself how you want to handle this. Not me." Hayley sighed. "You might find this hard to believe…but I do know you love me. Your eyes always betray you. But loving someone doesn't fix what is done. It doesn't make it better. Please go now. I need some time to myself."

Michael wiped the tears away from his eyes and stood up. "I'll make this up to you Hayley. I swear…I will." He quietly exited the room.

Hayley leaned her head back on the pillow. Her entire life was destroyed. Nate's actions were the final nail in the coffin of her marriage. She always suspected he was cheating, she just didn't want to deal with the consequence. The consequence of seeing her children every day to part time if they split up. She felt nauseous at the thought of not being able to be with them every day. Then there was work. There was no way she could publish her paper on time, so her grant was now in the toilet. Her new future sister in law thought she was this terrible mother. Her kids were stressed out. Her own brother wanted to sell her happiness out for his own gain. And Mitchell…sweet sweet Mitchell thought she was some psychopath. The one person left that had made her smile was gone. What was left?

There was a Ziploc bag on the table next to her bed. Inside were her rings, necklace and her cellphone. She grabbed her cellphone and turned it on. She looked at some photos. Phoebe and Daniel. She looked at her old photo of Mitchell. She was slowly losing everyone. She opened her text program. The last text message had been from Emily. She opened it and read Emily's taunting text about Mitchell again.

"Oh Emily…you stupid stupid girl. There's nothing more dangerous than messing with someone who has absolutely nothing left to lose." she whispered as she turned her phone off.

* * *

Penny grabbed Leonard's hand and led them into an empty visitor's room and shut the door. Her eyes were large and her face was flushed. "Leonard, what the hell was THAT?"

Leonard started pacing around the room. "I know! I've never seen Michael like that. Michael hates fighting, he usually just jokes around. This is so out of character for him. He was just wailing on Nate. I don't think he would have let up on him if I hadn't knocked him off of him."

"What do you think made him snap like that?"

"I don't know, but he's been acting really weird since he got to the hospital. Even before Nate got here. He was acting all nervous in the room when Hayley was sleeping, and then when I was talking to him in the hall…Penny…he's super guilty about something. I learned something interesting when I was talking to him."

"What?" Penny asked.

"Remember how we suspected that Hayley was the only link to Ainsley and myself. Well….we may have been wrong about that. I think Michael was that link."

"Michael? Michael knows Ainsley? Did he say something? What makes you think that?" Penny asked.

"Well, when I was at her apartment, I accidentally knocked something off the shelf near her shower when I grabbed a towel to dry my face. I picked it up and it was a man's watch. Not just any watch either. A Patek Philippe watch."

"Those are crazy expensive."

"Crazy expensive AND my brother is obsessed with those watches. When we were talking in the hall, he kept looking at his wrist but he had no watch on. I questioned him about it, and he said he misplaced it. I asked him about it, while describing the watch I had seen at Ainsley's but not letting on. It was the same watch."

"Son of a bitch! Michael and Ainsley? But why would your brother help Ainsley? If Ainsley wanted to get back together with you, why would she turn to Michael for help? Why not Hayley? Isn't she friends with Hayley?"

"I have no idea…the whole thing makes zero sense. And it doesn't explain why Michael was acting so strangely around Hayley."

"Or why he suddenly violently started beating Nate for that matter." Penny added.

Leonard wrenched his hands. He looked at Penny worriedly. "I'm worried about that. Michael called Nate an asshole on the phone, but then didn't tell us what he said. I was watching him when Nate came in the room to see Hayley. He was fine, but then he snapped. I saw it. He started freaking out. Something must have happened in that moment. He must have saw something." He continued twisting his hands. "You know…I never really liked Nate. He -"

A distinctive knock interrupted the conversation. Penny walked over to the door of the visitor lounge and opened the door.

"Emily!" Penny exclaimed.

Emily rushed into the room looking frantic. "Where is Michael? I need to talk to him. I just ran into Nate in the parking lot. His face was a bloody mess! What happened here? He said Michael punched him? Is Michael ok?"

Leonard frowned at Emily. "Hayley is stable, thank-you for asking" he said sarcastically. "Michael is in her room right now. They don't want to be disturbed."

Emily looked flustered. "Oh of course I am truly worried about Hayley. That's why I rushed down here in such a panic. I'm sorry, I didn't ask first, I was just so thrown by seeing Nate's face like that, and Michael to blame that it threw me. How is Hayley? Do you know what happened?"

"Well they are calling it a psychotic break. I guess she was under a huge amount of stress. We haven't been able to really talk to her about it. Basically she woke up, and we were just saying hello to her, when Michael went off on Nate. He smashed his phone, and then started punching him like there was no tomorrow."

"What?" Emily said with a genuinely confused look on her face. "That makes no sense…" she whispered to herself.

"Well…" Leonard gave Penny a subtle look. "I think Michael is stressed about a lot of things. Hayley's health, the wedding, losing his favourite watch…it was pretty expensive."

"He lost his watch?" Emily exclaimed. "I last remember him wearing it when he went to the gym before we met up for lunch at Hayley's. I bet you he just left it in his gym locker when he showered. It's probably there."

Leonard gave a knowing look to Penny. "Yeah…that's probably it."

Penny paced around the room. There was so much going on that didn't make any sense. What had caused Hayley to breakdown? Why was Michael acting so weird? What was going on with Michael and Ainsley? She thought back to the day they had lunch at Hayley's house. Michael had said he had just come from the gym. His hair was still wet. He seemed like he was in a great mood, and super hungry if she recalled. Leonard said he found the watch near a shelf near her shower the very next day in the morning. Could he have gone to Ainsley's and not to the gym? Was he sleeping with her? In one sense it made sense. She saw the watch before the gym, and the very next morning Leonard saw it at Ainsley's. But if she was sleeping with Michael, why would she be trying to hook up with Leonard also?

"So..ummm… Michael is talking with Hayley?" Emily said nervously. "Beverly told me she was sedated."

"She was…she woke up" Leonard said.

Michael walked into the visitor's room. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Emily. "What are you doing here?"

Emily gave a nervous laugh as she looked at Leonard and Penny. She walked up to Michael and touched his arm. "What are you talking about? I rushed over here as soon as I heard that Hayley had fallen ill."

"Just drop the act Em. You're not wanted here. Get the hell out. I can't even stand to look at your face right now."

"What is going on?" Penny asked.

"Oh he's just stressed." Emily grabbed Michael's arm and pulled him into the corner away from Leonard and Penny. "Baby, I'm sorry. How was I to know your sister was so damn unstable? A normal person would have just been a bit upset, not have a total mental breakdown." Emily whispered.

"I meant what I said in the car. Emily. You are not –"

"-Oh sweetie. We can fix everything. Hayley is going to be fine. She'll be at the wedding, and everything will be fine. I'll sort out everything with her crush too. But you have major damage control to do with Nate there. Why did punch him? " she whispered.

"Wedding!" Michael exclaimed loudly. "You have got to be kidding me. There is no way in hell I am marrying you."

"What?!" Leonard exclaimed. "What is going on?"

Emily laughed nervously. "Oh nothing nothing. Michael is just upset by everything that happened is all. Right Michael?" She turned to Michael and whispered. "There is no way you are pinning this all on me. This was your idea in the first place. Your nutcase sister is NOT ruining my wedding. We ARE getting married. I will not be embarrassed." She gently stroked his arm. "Listen, I know you are upset, but we can sort through all of that after the wedding."

"Get your hands off of me! Don't touch me! We are NOT getting married. I don't care if you are embarrassed. But if I do one good thing in my life, it would NOT be marrying you!"

"How dare you! You are hardly innocent in all of this. You masterminded everything. You! I know all your secrets Michael. And unless you want all your dirty laundry aired for all of the world to see, then I suggest that you keep your mouth shut." Emily hissed.

Michael glared at her. He thought about the words that Hayley had just spoken to him. Only he knew how to save his own soul. He had hit rock bottom when he hurt his sister so badly for his own stupid aspirations. He looked around the room, he had hurt every single person here. The only way was to come clean.

"You want to air my dirty laundry Emily? Don't worry, I'll do it for you! You will not crucify me! I'll do it myself!"

"Don't you dare do this" Emily whispered harshly.

Beverly Hofstadter walked in the room to Penny, Leonard, Michael and Emily all staring at each other. "What is going on here? Michael, please explain your abhorrent behaviour back in Hayley's room" she demanded.

Michael laughed. "Great! Mom's here too. Perfect. Just perfect." Michael turned towards Leonard and Penny. "Let's begin. I wanted to run for Senate but I thought Penny's family, especially her meth-head brother would be an embarrassment. So I wanted to break you two up. What better way to break you up, than to have another woman involved. I got Ainsley to agree to try to seduce you Leonard. She was going to work her charm to make you think you would be better off with her than with Penny. And if that didn't work, then she was going to lie to Penny about your behaviour. With you recent dalliance with your co-worker, it wouldn't be hard to push Penny over the edge in thinking you might cheat. Hayley was wise with that I was up to, so I wanted to get her out of the picture. To distract her. I did a little digging on her."

Michael turned and looked at Penny who was staring at him with a look of total rage. Her face was flushed red and she had her fists clenched. It was pale in comparison to the look of contempt Leonard was giving Michael.

"Penny here inadvertently helped me. She confirmed to me that Hayley had feelings for a fellow she worked with. BUT, I decided I didn't want to involve Hayley. I didn't…she's….she's been hurt enough." Michael's voice cracked. "But my dear fiancé decided to get involved anyways, and told him the most heinous lie about Hayley and scared the hell out of him and he took off. Nate cheats on Hayley. I've known…I've heard. I did nothing about it. He was late because he was screwing around with someone. I suspected…but I didn't think he would do that. But I saw evidence when he came in the room. I just lost it on him. There. That's everything. I have no more secrets. I'm the world's worst person. I screwed over my own brother and sister. I landed my sister in the hospital. Mom, how's that for your favourite son?"

Leonard walked up and slammed Michael hard in the face. He stumbled back into a chair cradling his face. His lip was cut and was starting to bleed. "How could you?" Leonard raged. "I always thought you were self centered but this? This? I never thought you were this morally bankrupt. You think you can just mess around in anyone's life?" Leonard smacked him again. "How dare you try to ruin my relationship with Penny."

Beverly grabbed Leonard and pulled him back. "Stop this!" she hissed. "Michael, I don't know what to say.."

Penny walked up to Michael. "How could you? You thought you could just trot out another woman in front of Leonard and he would cheat!" Penny slapped Michael in the face. "I knew there was something off about you. I could feel it in my bones. I never trusted you." Penny glanced at Emily. "You left one important piece of information out" she said coldly.

"What?" Michael said staring back at her.

"You left out the part about sleeping with Ainsley. It makes sense….now that I hear all this information about you. I just assume that Ainsley is as terrible of a person as you and Emily are. She must be if she was willing to go along with the scheme."

"What!" Emily screeched. "You are lying. There is no way that Michael would touch that hussy. Tell her Michael."

Michael turned to her and started laughing. His lip was bleeding badly now and started to drip down his chin. "Oh Emily. I should feel terrible. I really should. I hurt you the same way Nate hurt my own sister. But somehow I don't. I really hate you." He got up and walked toward Emily smiling. "You took pleasure in hurting Hayley. It gave you joy. I don't know what is wrong with me…but I don't feel bad about you…I guess perhaps I am as bad as you in that sense."

"What do you mean you hurt me the same way Nate hurt Hayley?" Emily said tensely.

"Oh Em. Surely you figured it out. Of course I slept with Ainsley. Why else would she agree to go along with our plan? For kicks? She did me this favour, and I would help her out when I got into Senate. She's a lobbyist for Pete's sake. Nobody does anything for free these days. I screwed her on her couch, in her bed, on the kitchen counter, in her shower…and I did it right after sleeping with you."

"Shut up!" Emily yelled. "You're lying. I know you're lying. You are just trying to hurt me because I upset your bitch of a sister." She turned to Penny. "This is all your fault! If you and your white trash family had never gotten involved with our family, then none of this would have happened!"

"Our family?" Leonard exclaimed as he glared at Emily. "You are not part of OUR family."

Penny walked up to Emily and shoved her back. "You have some nerve. My white trash family? My family would never NEVER treat each other this way. Sure my brother may have had some problems, but he's a good person. He would never hurt me or my sister intentionally. Look at this family! Everyone is cheating, backstabbing, lying." She turned to Beverly. "There is no love and affection shown towards each other. Everyone was pitted up against each other. And you are worried about me? That is such a joke." She turned back to Emily. "I want to know what you said to Hayley. Michael said it was heinous. Now coming from him…that must be pretty special."

Emily bit her lip. "It's not important. The fact is Hayley obviously had too much on her plate for her to handle. I don't know why everyone is ignoring the fact that dear precious Hayley was cheating on her husband also-"

"-She was not cheating. She had feelings….she never acted on. Now you want cheating? I was cheating on you Em. Me! Oh believe me…Ainsley was not the only one." Michael sputtered.

Emily slapped Michael hard in the face. "You'll pay Michael Hofstadter. Nobody embarrasses me. I'll destroy you. Your career, your reputation…everything. You'll have nothing left when I'm done with you."

"Fine. Do what you want. I don't care anymore. Destroy me for all I care." Michael retorted. He looked at her and smiled. "You never did answer Penny's' question about what you did to Hayley."

"Yes, I'm interested in that answer also?" Leonard said tensely as he walked up to Emily. "What did you say to my sister? What did you say to her that upset her so badly that she had a nervous breakdown?"

"Your sister is weak. She always acted like she was so much better than me. Smarter than me. Better connected. One little white lie, and she collapses like a house of cards." Emily muttered.

"She is better than you, and she is a hell of a lot stronger. You don't know her." Michael snapped. "Emily here, called Mitchell and told her that she was her psychiatrist, and that he was in grave physical danger because Hayley had some romantic obsession with him. She told him that she was hurting animals. She completely freaked him out. That's what sweet sweet Em did. Then she called Hayley and knowing her, taunted her. It was the straw the broke the camel's back."

Penny backed Emily against the wall. "You little bitch. You've been lying to me since the moment we met. Trying to make me feel insecure about Ainsley right from the start, telling me Hayley was an awful mother. Having no second thoughts about destroying your future sister? How could you be so cruel to Hayley? There really is a special place in hell for you."

Emily shoved Penny back. "I do not have to listen to some stupid waitress from Nebraska of all things. You are all a bunch of hypocrites. I will NOT be embarrassed, believe me, when I'm done spinning this, you'll be the most hated family on the east coast. I'm out of here." She walked towards the door.

"Emily stop." Beverly called out.

Emily turned around and watched Michael's statuesque mother stroll calmly towards her. Beverly took off her glasses and put the tip of the arm of her glasses in her mouth. "Emily dear, you do know that impersonating a medical doctor is a criminal offense. Well I'm sure you must know that being a judge yourself." She gave Emily a cold smile. "I do wonder how judges are treated in prison?"

The blood drained from Emily's face. She walked back to the door and quickly slammed it behind her as she left. Michael, Leonard, Penny and Beverly were left staring at each other. Beverly gave a little chuckle and put her glasses back on.

Beverly sighed. "Oh children. Lesson number one. Blood is always thicker than water."

 **A/N: This chapter was long, but I wanted everything to come out. How will the siblings deal with each other now that they know the truth? Thanks so much for reading, I really appreciate and love your reviews.**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"Relax your arm" a motherly voice called out. Hayley gazed up to see an elderly nurse with a kind smile staring back at her. She was starting an IV with the anti-anxiety medication. Hayley unclenched her fist, and tried to relax her arm as best she could. The thin needle pierced her skin and went into her arm. She gave the nurse a weak smile and glanced at the faded nametag on her uniform. Gloria.

Gloria gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "It'll be ok sweetheart. The medicine will relax you, and hopefully you'll be able to get some rest." She glanced at the door, to which she could see shadows of people standing outside. "Your momma there is some hotshot doctor hey? She got into a huge discussion about everything your doctor recommended. You're lucky you know. To have someone like that who is so concerned about you. "

Hayley sighed as she stared at the IV that was now taped to her arm. "You have no idea…" she muttered.

"Well mothers love in the best way they know how. That's what I always say. Do you have children?" Gloria asked while pulling the dinner tray over to Hayley.

"Two" Hayley whispered. "A girl and a boy."

"Well then you know what I'm talking about! Well you have your little ones to think of. Your only job right now is to get better for them. Listen, you barely touched your dinner. You're an itty bitty thing aren't you? Pretty as a picture though. Well, I want you to eat, drink your water and get some rest tonight. It will help. Believe me…I've been doing this a lot of years, I know."

Hayley gave her a soft smile. "Ok…I will try. It's hard to relax though, I have about a million thoughts rushing through my head right now. I'm worried about my kids. How am I going to explain – "

"-don't you worry about any of that tonight. Your family will take care of your kids, you don't need to fret about that. The medicine will help relax you, just give it some time." Gloria chuckled as she glanced at her chart. "Oh boy….Doctor Hayley Hofstadter. You're a doctor too?"

"Well not a medical doctor. I have my PhD in Biochemistry. I do medical research actually." Hayley said as she propped herself up in her bed. She glanced at the IV bag. "I know enough, to know that this medication is going to effect my GABA neurotransmitter. I can't say I'm exactly thrilled about that prospect."

"Well…I knew there was something about you. When I first saw you, I was like, yup that's a classic overthinker if I ever saw one."

Hayley laughed. "You could tell that just by looking at me? You had me pegged pretty quickly."

"Well, I've been doing this a long time. We get more of your type in here than you might expect. You get to read people well after a while." Gloria pointed over to Hayley's smartphone. "Here's a suggestion for you. Listen to some music. Something nice and soothing. Let your mind relax." She tapped Hayley's dinner tray. "Eat something too."

"I'll do my best" Hayley replied.

"Ok sweetheart. Just push the button if you need anything." Gloria quietly left the room. Hayley picked up her phone and opened up her music app. Perhaps her advice was sound. Music was always an escape from her. That was why she had started playing again, and even writing some of her own original music. But she hadn't told anyone about it. Well nobody but Mitchell. She hit shuffle and let the music play randomly.

The sun was setting, and shadows began to cast along the walls. The room felt so cold and empty. She had told her family that she just wanted to sleep and not be disturbed. She started shivering, and pulled the blanket up around her in a vain attempt to keep warm.

Hayley sighed. Well she had really made a mess of everything. How did her life get to this point? This was not at all how she had pictured her life. She had always pictured herself top of her field at work, with a supportive loving husband, two beautiful children. She was supposed to escape the pain and loneliness she had felt as a child. Tears welled up in her eyes. Look at her now….lying in a hospital bed, all alone, her family crumbling around her. Her mother was constantly disappointed in her. Leonard would feel sorry for her. Michael had sold her out. Nate was openly cheating on her. She was going to lose her grant because there was no way she could complete their paper. Her research partner was gone. Not just her research partner…her best friend.

She had failed. She had failed as a wife. She had failed as a daughter. She had failed as a mother. She was failing in her career. She didn't know how she could go back.

Maybe everyone would be better off without her. Nate would remarry. Probably to someone much better than herself. Organized…athletic…all the things that Nate complained that she wasn't. She was sure the kids would be happier, with this better more "with it" mother…instead of the mess of a mother that she was. They would be sad initially, but probably ultimately better off. Leonard would be sad, but he had Penny to help him through. Then there was Michael. She had a nagging feeling that Michael would not be ok. He was more damaged than she had ever thought. She had thought he was ok now, but she was wrong. She should have helped him more, but she had been a child herself…

The long somber notes of a clarinet started to permeate from her phone. She picked the phone up and started stroking the sides. The song reminded her of Mitchell. She couldn't get him off of her mind. Nate was cheating on her, but was she any better than him? She spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about another man. She imagined the simplest things. Like what it would feel like if he simply held her hand. Replaying their conversations over and over in her head. His smile. His laugh. She had spent years just quietly adoring him. Maybe she was just as bad as Nate. She had just kept her sins hidden within her head. The words of the song playing were echoing in her head. It was truly their story.

 _And now I'm all alone again, nowhere to turn, no one to go to  
Without a home, without a friend, without a face to say hello to  
But now the night is near  
And I can make believe he's here_

 _Sometimes I walk alone at night  
When everybody else is sleeping  
I think of him and then I'm happy  
With the company I'm keeping  
The city goes to bed,  
And I can live inside my head_

 _On my own  
Pretending he's beside me  
All alone, I walk with him 'til morning  
Without him, I feel his arms around me  
And when I lose my way I close my eyes  
And he has found me_

 _And I know it's only in my mind  
That I'm talking to myself and not to him  
And although I know that he is blind  
Still I say there's a way for us_

 _I love him, but when the night is over  
He is gone, the river's just a river  
Without him, the world around me changes  
The trees are bare and everywhere  
The streets are full of strangers..._

 _I love him, but every day I'm learning  
All my life ,I've only been pretending  
Without me, His world will go on turning  
A world that's full of happiness  
That I have never known_

 _I love him..But only on my own..._

Hayley pulled her legs up on the bed and hugged her knees. The loneliness was the worst part of this. She had felt alone before, but never like this before. She could feel the medicine start to take effect. The sadness was there, but the associated panic and sting were fading. She wiped a tear away from her eyes.

A quiet knocking at her hospital door startled Hayley from her thoughts. She couldn't tell who was there through the frosted pane. She quickly hit pause on her phone and tossed it on her bedside table. The door opened slowly to reveal Leonard standing there with a worried look on his face.

"Hi Hale" Leonard said softly as he walked in.

Hayley smiled. Leonard. It felt so good to have Leonard home. She had missed him so much. His kind nature, his optimism, his ability to see the good in people. He was so different than Michael and herself. As she gazed at him, she could see his warm brown eyes were clouded with worry.

He closed the door gently and walked over and gave her a light kiss on the top of her head. He pulled up a chair besides Hayley and held her hand. "Are you doing ok? I was so worried about leaving you alone in here with Michael. And after speaking with Michael right now, I'm even more worried about you."

Hayley sighed. "What did Michael say?"

Leonard cleared his throat. "Well he confessed to everything. To trying to break Penny and I up using Ainsley. Sleeping with Ainsley –"

"-Sleeping with Ainsley? What? Michael was sleeping with Ainsley?" Hayley exclaimed.

"Yeah. He didn't really confess that one right away. But I found his watch at Ainsley's apartment, and Penny and I put two and two together."

Hayley gave a little laugh. "Oh Michael, Michael, Michael. That's how you got Ainsley on your side. I knew there had to be more to his plan" she muttered. "Does Emily know?"

"Well she just found out. Did you hear her head exploding? Michael told her the wedding was off and that he wants nothing to do with her after what she pulled on you. She was in complete meltdown mode. Said she was going to destroy him. Honestly…after the crap Michael pulled he deserves it." Leonard looked at Hayley concerned. "I'm so sorry about Nate, Hayley. Not to praise Michael, but I'm really glad he beat the crap out of him."

Hayley gave a pensive look to Leonard. "Would I be a terrible person if I said that I'm glad he did too. Part of me always knew he was cheating. I just didn't want to deal with the consequences. Divorce…custody. I didn't want the kids to go through that. I was being selfish, I didn't want to see my kids part time. I wanted to see them every single day. I was determined not to fail."

"Hayley, the kids know you are not happy. Phoebe told me herself that she was worried about you. She asked me to help you. I don't think you staying with a man that treats you this way is good for you OR the kids. They will be happy if they see YOU happy. They love you so much Hayley, it was clear as day when I talked with them." He held Hayley's hand tighter. "Tell me about Mitchell. I'm totally in the dark about him."

Hayley looked out the window. "There is not much to tell" she said softly. "It just makes me feel pathetic."

Leonard rubbed her hand. "Hayley, you are the last person in the world I would ever call pathetic. It's me. Tell me."

Hayley looked into her brothers eyes and knew in her heart that she could trust him. "Mitchell is just a dream. Someone I think about but was never meant to be. He's the man I work side by side with, and over the years he has become a close friend. He's so different from the people I know in my life. He's so down to earth. He's extremely intelligent, but he's so modest about it. He's helpful and kind. It's why grad students we don't even work with always show up at our lab, he helps them. He takes the time and doesn't talk down to them. He's funny and set in his own quirky ways. " Hayley sighed and smiled wistfully. "I've never met anyone quite like him before."

"Well, perhaps he feels the same way, but never said anything because he knew you were married." Leonard suggested. "You deserve a shot at true love Hale."

"Perhaps things are perfect with Mitchell just the way they are." Hayley countered.

"What are you talking about? He doesn't even know you have feelings for him. I mean real feelings, not the garbage that Emily told him."

"If, by the off chance that he does have feelings for me, then what? We date. We get to know each other. Then over time he finds the million things about me, that at first he found cute, to be extremely annoying. And I find all his flaws. And we discover that we are completely incompatible? And then we eventually hate each other? No thank-you. I'm tired of being rejected Leonard. I'm tired of everyone eventually getting tired of me. I'm tired of never being good enough. I'd rather have my fantasy. Where his love is everlasting, pure and true. Where he loves and adores me, and I him. At this point I'd rather live in fantasy than reality. We all want the love that we see in the movies and in books. Because reality sucks…"

"Why are you so convinced that he couldn't possibly love you? That he would grow to hate you? I hate to think of you living in this fantasy world, when you could have real tangible love in front of you. Just because you and Nate didn't work out, doesn't mean that it won't work out with someone else. Even if it isn't Mitchell. Look and Penny and I. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that I would end up with someone so wonderful , warm and caring as her. But I did. It's real. We are real."

"I'm happy for you Leonard. I really am. I hope you and Penny love each other this way for the rest of your lives." Hayley said wistfully. "But I don't know… I think that type of love is rare. Perhaps it's not for everyone. Not everyone is destined to experience romantic love. You are right. My children love me, that should be enough. I need to stop desiring love. That is my downfall. I'm a fool. What did that song we used to listen to say? _Holding back the fool pretends. I forget to forget that nothing is important. Holding back the fool again."_

"Stop saying stuff like that " Leonard said frustrated. "You can have love too Hayley! You need to stop thinking you're not good enough. It's just bullshit that has been driven into our heads all our lives by mom. Don't you think I have problems because of how we grew up? I do. You don't know how many times I sabotaged my relationships with my own insecurities. I seek approval when I really shouldn't. I don't stand up for myself. I constantly settle for less because its what I think I deserve. Believe me…the road that Penny and I have been on together hasn't been easy. I think we are ultimately stronger because of our struggle. Hayley…you're one of the strongest people I've ever known. You handle so much with stride. You stood up to mom when no one else would. You defended me, to your own detriment more times than I can remember. You've accomplished so much at work. You're a wonderful mother, you are caring and warm. Nothing like our own mother. As for Nate, I don't know how you've put up with him all these years. I look up to you. I always have."

"You really shouldn't" Hayley sighed.

"And why shouldn't I Hayley? Because I believe in you, even though you don't believe in yourself? We are our own worst critics."

"Because I'm not like you Leonard! You have always been a kind compassionate person. You've been that way since you were a little boy. I have not. I could stand up to mom because I took great pleasure in pissing her off. But it's not just her. I've always liked pulling peoples strings to see how they react. Sometimes I'd do it just for fun. Michael and I are the same that way. Why do you think we had so much fun together at all these parties…at society events? We'd snark together about everyone, and create situations that we found amusing. We acted like puppet masters and everyone was our stupid marionettes. What kind of people do that? I'm not a saint. I never was. I'm more like Michael than you'd like to believe. I don't deserve your admiration. I am living the life I created for myself" Hayley stated solemnly.

"Don't even start to compare yourself to Michael! Michael could not give a rat's ass about anyone but himself, and he just proved it with his little schemes here. Destroying your happiness. Trying to destroy mine? He doesn't think about anyone except himself. You would think he would not hurt his own family, but he did it without a second thought. I know for a fact that you would never do that. Nobody is perfect Hayley. You're human, just like the rest of us, and I don't expect you to be a saint. I know your heart is good. I can see it in the way you interact with your children. I can see it in the way you interact with me. Michael has been nothing but a selfish jerk his whole life. Now his life is falling apart, but do you know what? He deserves it. He deserves to lose everything he holds important. Karma punishes those that deserve it" Leonard sputtered.

"Karma! Don't talk to me about karma! It's all a bunch of crap. Evil has a broad hand, and it slaps the good and bad people alike. Where is karma when innocent people suffer so badly? Does it punish evil without exception? No. No it doesn't. Michael doesn't deserve to have his life destroyed. He's just broken Leonard. He's so broken." The tears that Hayley was struggling to hold back suddenly broke free. She started sobbing uncontrollably.

Leonard pulled Hayley into his arms and held her tight until her crying subsided. He handed her some tissue and she wiped the tears from her face. She turned and looked at her brother with a serious look.

"Have you ever thought about why Michael is the way he is?" Hayley asked quietly.

"What do you mean?" Leonard replied.

"I mean his personality, how he behaves in relationships, his family ones and romantic ones. He's detached. "

"I think he acts like player because he is a player. He was cursed with smarts, being tall, and looking like an Abercrombie and Fitch model. He has our mother's undying love and approval. He does whatever he wants because he can get away with it. That's what I see in Michael" Leonard retorted.

"So what? All good looking smart people behave this way? Dig deeper Leonard. Pretend you are mom, file away all your emotion. Look at this clinically. Take all your feelings out of it."

"Why don't you just spit out what you are trying to say? " Leonard demanded frustrated.

"Michael is emotionally detached. He often lacks empathy. He's charming. He manipulates people. He's a control freak." Hayley's voice began to crack. "He's been sexually promiscuous from a young age. He had a drug problem during university."

"I don't think Michael's little cocaine bender he had in university constitutes as a real drug problem. It's more bored rich kid behaviour. Most of the characteristics you just listed, would just lead me to believe that Michael is a sociopath. Which, given his behaviour isn't too far of a stretch for me to believe right now."

Hayley's eyes filled up with tears. "I think he may have borderline sociopathic traits. He wasn't always this way Leonard. You remember that don't you? Everything changed…" she trailed off.

Leonard stared at his sister. She looked completely broken. He thought back on his childhood with his brother and sister. It wasn't easy growing up with such emotionally detached yet demanding parents. The three siblings had generally always gotten along. They had always tried to one up each other in getting their parents approval. Hayley was right though. There came a point where Michael changed. They had gone from a playful brotherly relationship to one where Michael seemed angry and resentful of Leonard. He was watching Hayley wipe away her tears. He kept running through the traits she listed off to him when it hit him. A wave of understanding washed over his body. He could feel chills invade the inner core of his bones. He was seeking the answer in his sister's face, and the answer was lying in her tear stained eyes.

"Who hurt Michael? How? When?" Leonard whispered urgently, his voice cracking with fear.

Hayley looked Leonard in the eye. "Uncle James" she whispered.

"Uncle James? But he died such a long time ago. In a car –"

"-accident" Hayley finished. "I guess sometimes God does have mercy."

"What did he do?" Leonard stuttered out, a wave a nausea was overtaking him.

Hayley started openly crying. "What do you think" she blurted out. "Think of the worst thing you can think of. That."

"Oh my God…Oh my God.." Leonard gasped as he doubled over in his chair. "I don't understand. How could I not know this? Hayley please?" Leonard pleaded, his eyes begging for answers.

"It happened that summer when you were ten. Michael was seven. You went away to that Physics camp you were dying to go to for three weeks. Uncle James stayed with us. Mom and Dad worked late a lot those days. Uncle James was supposed to watch us. He…he..hurt Michael. Badly. Michael was so scared he came to me. Uncle James found out and scared me. He told me he would hurt you Leonard if I ever said anything to mom and dad. That he would hurt me too."

Leonard's eyes were filled with tears. He looked at his sister. She had always been so averse to eating; she had so many obsessive compulsive habits. It was like the missing pieces of a complicated jigsaw puzzle were finally coming together. "Did he hurt you too?" Leonard asked fearing the answer.

Hayley looked at him sadly. "Not the way he hurt Michael. He twisted my arm so hard I thought it was going to break. He said if I said anything it would be much worse. Michael was his real target. I was so young Leonard. I should have told mom and dad but I was so scared. I did my best to help Michael. I kept helping him hide. Whenever Uncle James went looking for him, I found new hiding spots. We'd stay hidden for hours and hours. I wouldn't let him out of my sight. It was the worst two weeks of our lives. He left, and just a few weeks later we got news about the accident. Michael and I swore that we would never speak of what happened to anyone. We thought our nightmare was over. I should have said something. I was twelve and scared out of my mind. Mom and Dad were so hard to talk to though. We were so relieved it was over, but Michael was never the same. I guess we both weren't really. I think that he resented you for being able to escape that experience. Why did he have to suffer, and you got off unscathed? That's when you two stopped getting along. We should have been in counselling. We both just did our best to forget that whole nightmare…" she trailed off.

"Oh my God, Hayley. I wish you would have told me. I had no idea you guys went through all of that." Leonard sniffed while running his hands through his curly hair. "He was so young….the same age Phoebe is now.."

"I know" Hayley responded somberly. "We just were trying to forget Leonard. Forget that it ever happened. Michael was resentful of you as a kid, but as he grew up, he knew that it wasn't your fault at all. I guess though, by that point you two were not very close. Michael seemed ok on the outside. He was popular, seemed happy, joked around all the time. I guess I misread him all these years. I thought he was ok, but really he just detached himself emotionally." Hayley sighed. "I just don't know how to help him now. The only glimmer of hope I have now, is the fact that he didn't want to hurt me. I guess it just shows me that he didn't detach completely. He still cares in a messed up way…"

Leonard looked at Hayley seriously. "Do mom and dad know? Did either of you ever tell them?"

Hayley flicked a piece of fuzz of the blanket. "I don't think they know. Mom for sure doesn't know. Dad..I'm not so sure. I always suspected he knew something was up with his brother. Dad's always been so distant. Guilt does funny things to people. Michael's never said a word. He won't talk about it."

Leonard got up and started pacing around the room. "I feel so sick to my stomach. I don't know what to do? Part of me wants to find Michael and hug him, and another part of me knows that him being hurt doesn't justify him hurting everyone to his own benefit. I need to talk to him. I need to see him" Leonard said urgently.

"Leonard, he really won't want to talk about this. He's done his best to try to bury that memory" Hayley warned.

"I know Hayley, I know. If I were in his shoes, I wouldn't want to talk about it either. We've all held so many secrets over the years and where has it gotten us? This family is a mess. I want my brother and sister back. I want to be close again. To behave like real brothers and sisters do. We had that once. I've got to believe that we can get there again."

Hayley looked at Leonard thoughtfully. "I would like that too. I just don't know if it possible at this point."

Leonard nodded. "Have faith Hayley. We can do this. I've got to believe that we can do this."

 **A/N: It's been a while since I posted. This chapter was extremely hard for me to write. I poured a lot of my own thoughts on life and relationships in here, that it feels really personal. I get a lot of bashing reviews on every chapter, so I'd appreciate it if you keep negative reviews to yourself on this one. Well all the secrets are out now. Up next: Penny and Michael talk, and then Leonard has a heart to heart with his brother. Can the Hofstadter siblings ever become close again? Song credits: On My Own – Les Miserables, To Forgive – Smashing Pumpkins.**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Michael leaned outside on the cold brick wall of the hospital. His hands were shaking as he clutched a carton of cigarettes. He needed to calm down, but the adrenaline from this evening was still coursing through his veins. He looked at the pack of Marlboros he had picked up at the gift shop in the lobby. Michael shook his head and sighed. He didn't even smoke. The idea of smoking seemed calming though. His phone was buzzing in his pocket with another text. His phone had not stopped buzzing for the last hour, but he didn't want to check it. He wanted to disappear, to run away, but at the same time he didn't want to leave Hayley. He could only imagine what kind of texts were flooding his phone. The wrath of Emily, his mother, Leonard, even Penny he was sure. He must look like such an awful person to everyone now. Perhaps everyone was seeing the real him now.

He pulled out a cigarette and put it up to his lips. He ignited the dry paper, and the cigarette glowed with a soft red light. He took a deep drag, and immediate launched into a coughing fit. He continued coughing as he tossed the cigarette onto the ground and smashed it out with his feet.

"I didn't know you smoked?" a soft female's voice called out.

Michael looked up startled. "Ainsley? What are you doing here?"

Ainsley touched Michael's arm. "How is Hayley? I heard she's in the hospital, but I didn't get any details."

Michael gulped. "Well she's stable. She had a psychotic break. God….I don't know if she'll be ok. I'm so worried about her." He looked over at Ainsley's concerned face. "What are you doing here? How did you know about this?"

Ainsley sighed. "Well, Emily called me. Michael, she found out about us. I don't know how. I denied until I was blue in the face, but I don't think that she believed me though. She was in a total rage." She frowned and ran her fingers softly against Michael's cut lip. "Michael, are you ok? You really don't look well. What happened here tonight?"

"What happened? Well I almost killed my sister with my selfish behaviour. That's what happened" Michael replied flatly. He looked Ainsley in the eyes. "Emily knows everything Ainsley. I told her tonight."

"You what?!" Ainsley exclaimed as she snapped her hand back to her side. "Why would you do that? Michael she'll ruin me! My career will be over. Everyone will think that's how I lobby, by sleeping around. And you….you can kiss your dreams of being a senator goodbye."

"I know I'm never going to be a senator now – "Michael started.

"-so since you know you're not going to be a senator, it's ok to throw my career in the toilet, because it doesn't affect you!?" Ainsley exclaimed. She started pacing back and forth. "This is bad Michael…really bad. I can't have Emily spreading this around."

"I'm sorry Ainsley…I really am. I shouldn't have gotten you involved in this whole mess. Nobody knows I wanted to run for senate, except you, Em and Hayley. At worst, if it gets out, it just looks like you had a tryst with an old friend. Nothing to do with your career, since I'm not politically involved."

"You say that, but you know what a psycho your fiancé –"

"Ex-fiancé" Michael interrupted.

"-is." Ainsley groaned in frustration. "Knowing Emily, this is going to turn into a huge mess. It's going to take a lot of work to spin this."

Michael looked at Ainsley thoughtfully. Her long dark brown hair was cascading down her back in loose curls. Her light summer coat was cinched tightly around her waist, her cheeks flushed pink from the chill of the evening. He had known her for so many years, first through Hayley and then through Leonard. He had always kept his distance, just observing conversations from a far. He knew that she was very intelligent from the conversations she had with Hayley and Leonard. And with Leonard he had seen her playful and affectionate side. She had graduated top of her class at Princeton in Political Science. How did she go from that, to this person that solely used her sexuality to get what she wanted as a lobbyist? She was so smart, she could destroy opposing arguments with her sharp wit. What had changed in her? She sometimes seemed like a completely different person. It was puzzling. There must be a reason. He had felt a connection with her…something different. He had assumed it had just been because he knew her in the past, but now he was not so sure.

"Ainsley, why did you sleep with me?" Michael blurted out.

Ainsley's face flushed red. "You know why. I scratch your back, you scratch mine. Why are you asking me this?" she asked nervously.

"I….I don't understand why you need to 'scratch anyone's back' Ainsley. You're so intelligent and beautiful. I just don't get it. I heard things around DC…"

"I don't need to justify my actions to anyone." Ainsley snapped. "You don't know me Michael, you never did. Don't try to pull out some moral compass for me, because you suddenly grew a conscious when Hayley got hurt. I've heard things about you too. Are you judging me?"

"No! God…no. I'm not. I'm sorry Ainsley. I'm the last person who could ever judge anyone. I just wanted to know what…I mean...I want to know if I was…If I.." Michael stopped and ran his hands through his wavy hair. He stared into Ainsley's eyes. "I'm just sorry. I hurt everyone and I hurt you also. You don't deserve that."

Ainsley gave a sad smile. "I'm not sure what I deserve anymore." She took Michael's hand in hers. She reached into her pocket with her other hand and pulled something out and placed it in his hand. Michael looked down at his now open hand. It was his Patek Philippe watch.

"You left this at my place, I thought you might be missing it."

Michael stared down at his favourite watch and stroked the soft black leather. His hands started shaking and his stomach started aching. Ainsley closed Michael's hand around his watch

"I'm going to head back to DC. I think it would be best for everyone." She gently stroked Michael's cheek. She leaned up to his ear and whispered. "Take Care Michael. It was different for me too. But that doesn't make it right."

Ainsley put her hands in her pocket and walked away. Michael watched as she disappeared into the night. Chills started to overtake his body. He knew that this was just the start of everything going wrong.

He took a deep breath and put his watch into his coat pocket. His phone kept buzzing in his other pocket. He had avoided looking long enough. What was going on that kept his phone buzzing continually for the past two hours? He hit the home button. Six text messages, two new emails and two voicemail. Most of the text messages were from Emily.

 _Emily: You think you are so smart don't you? Well you are not smarter than me. Payback is a bitch. Try getting out of this one asshole._

Michael quickly scanned the following texts. They all appeared to be links to various New York Gossip sites. Puzzled, he clicked on the links.

 _Which Harvard Legal Eagle is about to get into hot water with the University? It appears that this Harvard Professor has been a very naughty naughty boy. Not only flagrantly cheating on his beautiful wife to be, but fraternizing inappropriately with his students. We thought Harvard gave A's for skills in the classroom. …not the bedroom. We are sure the University is not laughing._

He quickly read the next link she sent him.

 _This Harvard Hottie is in deep trouble. Not only was he cheating on his gorgeous fiancé who is a pillar to the community, but cheating with his young underage students. Apparently he gives new meaning to oral examinations. Hopefully his termination papers are in the mail._

Michael's stomach churned as he looked at the phone. What the hell? He never did anything with any of his students. Ever. He quickly read the site again. Underage? She was trying to frame him in the worst possible way. The university hated scandals. They typically acted swiftly to save their reputation. Emily was going for all the things that he cared about. His career was the one thing that he had been focused on his whole life, and it was slipping away quicker than he could fathom. He glanced at the mail icon. Two unread messages. He clicked the app. They were both from Harvard University. He quickly read the emails.

Michael shoved the phone back in his pocket. It was over. Everything he had worked so hard for….gone. Harvard had put him on immediate suspension due to accusations of an "unnamed student". He had to give credit to Emily, she was thorough in crafting this lie. No matter what he could do to fight this, he knew it would follow him the rest of his life. Everyone would be suspicious of him. He cracked his knuckles. What was the point in trying anymore? His career was over, he had hurt Haley, his family hated him. He pulled out the watch and looked at the inscription on the back.

 _I am not what happened to me. I am what I choose to become._

"Too bad I chose to become a monster" Michael muttered to himself. He unzipped his coat and headed back into the hospital.

* * *

Leonard walked back into the waiting room that Penny was in. His heart was racing from the revelation that Hayley had just revealed. He found the closest chair and fell into it, trying to focus his thoughts. He barely noticed Penny pacing in front of him. She was talking at a rapid pace.

"I just can't believe it! That your own brother would do that to you and Hayley. He covered everything up so well. He was charming Leonard. Charming! After our day out together, I couldn't even help but think that he was nice. AND that was with me being suspicious of him! He managed to charm me. Man, I wish he was here right now so I could give him a piece of my mind. You told me he was a brat, you didn't tell me he was evil!" Penny continued pacing around the room. Leonard continued to stare at the floor.

"He has some nerve insulting my family. He doesn't even know them! I mean, I know my brother has had some trouble with the law, but he is a good person! His heart is usually in the right place, which is a lot more than I can say for Michael. He thought I would embarrass him? Me! What a hypocrite. He's the one sleeping around."

"Penny, I –" Leonard started.

"And that brings me to another point. He slept with Ainsley? Ainsley, your ex? That is so wrong on so many levels. First the obvious point of cheating. If he wants to be a playboy, then be single. He can play the field to his heart's content. Argh! That bothers me so much! And then to cheat with his own brother's ex? That is disgusting. I remember one time my sister's boyfriend hit on me, but I turned him down flat. He was absolutely gorgeous. But, I could never hurt my sister that way. Pfft! And my family is embarrassing? Let me tell you something-" Penny stopped short as she looked at Leonard. He looked so pale and his hands were trembling. She kneeled in front of him and took hold of his hand.

"Sweetie….are you Ok? I'm sorry I got carried away ranting about Michael. I'm just so angry at him for hurting you and Hayley" She squeezed Leonard's hand and looked at him concerned "How's Hayley doing?"

Leonard sighed and looked up at the ceiling. He ran his hands through his hair. "I don't know Penny…she's calm, but it's not a good calm. All I could see in her is a lot of sadness. It's like she's lost hope. Hope is so important….it's all we have sometimes." He stopped and looked at Penny's worried face. "She really opened up to me. About her life, Nate, Mitchell….Michael." His voice cracked upon mentioning his brother's name.

"Michael? Oh God…what else did he do?" Penny asked quietly.

"I didn't know Penny…I didn't know…" Leonard whispered. He held Penny's hand tight stared into her confused eyes.

"You didn't know what?"

Leonard teared up. "I'm the oldest son. I wish I could have protected them. I would have done anything to protect them. I wish I had known" he gasped.

Penny squeezed his hand harder. "Leonard you're scaring me. What are you talking about? Protect who? From what?"

Leonard took a deep breath and faced Penny. He told her the story that Hayley had told him just moments before. He could see Penny's face change from confusion, to horror to heartbreaking sadness. Penny started crying as she clutched Leonard's hand. They fell into each others arms and held each other for countless minutes. She wiped away the tears from her eyes. "I don't know what to say Leonard. It's so horrific."

"I'm tired of how things are between the three of us. We are all just drifting further and further apart. We need each other. We need to help and support each other. Michael really needs professional help, because its obvious he's manifesting his pain in so many different ways. Hayley also. Our parents weren't there for us, but it doesn't mean that we can't be there for each other. It's what I want so badly…" Leonard trailed off.

Penny gave Leonard an encouraging smile. "Well you know the old quote? _Today is the first day of the rest of your lives?_ It's not impossible Leonard. It won't be easy, that's for sure. But if all three of you want the same thing, you can get there. I have faith in you. If anyone can do this, you can."

Leonard smiled softly at Penny. "I need to talk to Michael. I need to find him." Leonard started to get up.

"Before you go, I just wanted to let you know, I overhead the doctors say they will probably release Hayley tomorrow. But I know you don't want to be far from your sister, so I booked a hotel for tonight that is just a couple blocks from the hospital."

A smile broke out on Leonard's face as he looked at Penny. She had truly been his rock during this whole experience. He pulled her into a hug. "What did I ever do to deserve you?" he whispered in her ear.

Penny smiled back. "You were simply yourself. I love you."

"I love you too." Leonard gave her a squeeze and then headed out the door.

* * *

Michael leaned his head back against the pew of the church chapel. He was absolutely exhausted and his head was pounding. He looked around the chapel. It was quite pretty for a small room, with stained glass and various flower arrangements. A few candles were lit in the front of the room, giving the room a warm comforting glow. He stretched his legs out in front of him and put his hands in his pockets. His lip was still throbbing from where Leonard hit him previously. He took out his watch and put it back on his wrist.

When he had graduated university he had promised himself, the first expensive purchase he would make would be that watch. It was a sign that he had arrived. That he was successful. He had worked so many hours for years just to afford that watch. It was beautiful, intricately designed with the best materials. Really, it was a work of art. It had been the one constant in his life all of these years. People came and went, but he always had this watch.

"Michael?" a familiar voice called out.

Michael sat up and turned to see his brother approaching him. Leonard entered the row and sat down beside him on the bench.

Michael looked sideways at Leonard. "If you are going to hit me again, please don't. I don't think my face can take much more today."

"Well you can't say you didn't deserve that" Leonard replied softly.

Michael sighed. "True….I did." He put his head back against the bench and stared at the arched ceiling. Leonard settled in beside him and looked up at the ceiling also.

"You know I'm surprised to find you in here of all places. I was looking all over the hospital for you."

"Did you think I'd burst into flames if I came in here?" Michael gave a sad little laugh. "Part of me thought I might actually." He sat up and looked directly at Leonard. "Did you see Hayley again? How is she doing?"

Leonard leaned forward and clasped his hands together. "I saw her. I don't know Michael. I'm worried about her. She seems so sad….so incredibly sad."

"God Leonard….I'll do anything to fix this. You have to believe me. I hate myself for putting her through this. I'll find Mitchell. I'll get him to understand everything he was told was a lie. I'll do anything to make this right for her."

"I think Hayley's problems are a lot deeper than her romantic problems with Nate and Mitchell. She really opened up to me tonight. She seems to have a deep rooted belief that she isn't good enough to have real happiness. If I'm perfectly honest, I have the same fears sometimes. We talked about a lot of things. We talked a lot about you."

"Me?" Michael said flatly. "Did Hayley give you a list of all the terrible things I've done over the years since you've been away? Is it possible for you to have a lower opinion of me that you did previously? " he muttered.

Leonard stared at his younger brother. Memories of their childhood together came flooding back to him. Where he had been the shy quiet child, Michael was always loud, gregarious, affectionate and attention seeking. In some respects, he had maintained a lot of those traits into adulthood. He was still a fun outgoing person. He loved the limelight. But Hayley was right, he had many friends, but he couldn't think of anyone he was really attached to. The closest person he could think of was Hayley. Given what Hayley had just told him, it made sense. His stomach began to churn at the thought of someone hurting his little brother this way. He did everything in his power to hold back the tears.

"No Michael. She didn't list of bad things you've done." Leonard started softly. "She told me about Uncle James. Michael….I'm sorry….I had no idea."

Michael looked at him startled, then looked away. There was a heavy silence between them.

"Michael…I want you to know, If you ever want to talk –"

"-there is nothing to say" Michael interrupted. "It's over, and it's a part of my life I'd rather not revisit. End of story."

Leonard stared at Michael. He looked upset, and it was clear that he didn't want to talk about this. He couldn't blame him, he was sure he wouldn't want to talk about it either if the tables were turned.

"Michael, no, it's not the end of story. You went through something so horrifically traumatic at a young age, and you had no one to help you through it. No one to talk to about it. You kept everything bottled in, and that's not healthy. You need to express your feelings, to deal with what happened and start to heal. I want to help if I can."

Michael remained silent.

"It's killing me that you and Hayley went through this nightmare. I had no idea. I would have done anything to help both of you. But I want to help both of you now. Michael, I think it's important." Leonard emphasized.

"What's the point?" Michael whispered softly.

"What?" Leonard asked.

"What's the point? I don't see how opening old wounds is going to change anything. Everything remains the same. Except that I have to relive the experience by explaining it to someone. The past stays the same. The present- where I am a shitty brother to you and Hayley also remains the same. What are they going to tell me? That what I experienced as a kid wasn't my fault? I know that" he sputtered.

"But what about your future? Don't you want to feel –"

"-Feel?" Michael interrupted. "Don't you get it? I don't feel anymore. I don't feel anything. I feel numb most of the time. That's how I feel – numb. I don't feel the way people are supposed to feel. Everything feels like it's been dulled. I don't see that changing. I've been going through life to get what I want, the people involved have been largely inconsequential."

Leonard stared back at Michael. "You're lying."

"I am not lying" Michael retorted.

"You are lying. You know how I can tell? Because I heard it in your reaction to when you found out about Hayley being in the hospital. I saw it your reaction when you saw the mark on Nate's neck. I saw it in the way that you confessed everything to us in the room just hours ago. That wasn't the reaction of a man that is emotionless and feels nothing. It was the reaction of a man wracked with guilt, anger and grief. So while you may feel numb in many of your interactions, you are still there. The Michael that feels is still in there."

Michael rested his elbows on his knees and cradled his face with his hands. "Hayley has always been different" he whispered. "I don't know what to do anymore. I don't. My whole life is falling apart. I don't even know why you are talking to me. If I were you, I wouldn't. I tried to break you and Penny up for Pete's sake. I put our sister in the hospital. Don't forgive me because you pity me all of a sudden. Because pity is something I just cannot take. I'd rather you hate me than pity me."

"Oh believe me. I haven't forgotten about your plan for me and for Hayley. But Michael…sometimes you really need to look at the bigger picture. Listen, you are my brother and even with all the messed up things you do, I'm always going to love you. It's not pity. It's love. Ultimately I want the best for you. I want you to be happy. We all forgot what being a family is really about. We've just been living individually with little to no connection to each other. It's because Mom and Dad raised us that way. But that needs to end."

"I don't know where to begin. I really don't" Michael said wiping a tear away from his eyes.

Leonard put his arm around Michael's shoulder. "You begin by getting help for yourself. It's going to be hard, but Hayley, Penny and I will be there for you every step of the way. You need to feel good about yourself again Michael. To feel real happiness one day. And we both need to be strong for Hayley. She's going to need us now more than ever. Do you think you can do that? I know Hayley wants the same thing."

Michael paused. "I'll try for you and Hayley" he said with a broken voice.

"Most importantly, try for yourself." He pulled Michael into a hug. The two brothers held on for a few moments. It was the first time in years that they had felt close.

"Listen, I want to talk to you about Hayley. Penny overhead the doctors saying they will probably release her tomorrow. I don't want her going home and staying alone, or worse…with Nate. I also don't think it would be the best idea for her to go to Mom's house. Living with mom is grating at the best of times, even with Penny and I to play interference. What I propose is that you, Penny and I all stay at Hayley's house with her. I think she really needs to be around her children, and they won't be disrupted by staying at a different home. She needs us both now. What do you think?" Leonard asked.

"Sure. I think you're right. Having Phoebe and Daniel around will be good for Hayley. I'd like to stay, if Hayley is ok with it. I'm sure Emily has burned all my stuff at our condo by now. But the what about –"

"-Nate?" Leonard finished. The two brothers looked at each other.

"We'll kick him out" they said in unison.

"Ok, that's settled. I'll try to gather my things when Emily is out tomorrow. Are you sure you and Hayley are ok with this?"

Leonard smiled softly at his brother. "I'm sure."

Michael smiled back. "Thank-you Leonard…..for everything."

 **A/N: The siblings will begin to reconnect at Hayley's house. Thanks so much for the reviews, I really appreciate them. A guest reviewer pointed out that Ainsley and Mitchell have the same last name. That was just an error on my part. Sorry! As it's an older chapter, I can't go back and correct the error, but be assured that they are not related in any way! Thanks again!**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Her hair looked so soft. Silky. The morning sun glistened off of each dark chestnut strand fanned out across the pillow. Her hair had always been soft, from the time she was a baby, to a little girl, and now to an adult with children of her own. She looked so childlike when she was sleeping. When she was a little girl, she had quietly entered her room while she was sleeping and just watched her sometimes. This tiny little human being that she had created. Her first born. She was a complicated one, always challenging her, perplexing her. Stubborn as a mule. Both her sons were so different, both eager to make her happy, but Hayley had always been different. There was a fire in her eyes directed at her. Deep down, Hayley threatened her. She would always take the most diametrically opposite view to her. She felt the need to battle with her constantly. They sparred about everything. It was almost comforting in an odd way.

Beverly gazed at Hayley asleep in her pale blue hospital gown with an IV taped to her arm. Hayley normally had such a large personality, but now she just looked so small and fragile. Much like she did when she was a child. She was overcome with a feeling of uneasiness. Normally she was quite objective about her children. She had raised them to adulthood, and now it was their responsibility to take care of themselves and live by their own decisions. It had nothing to do with her. Their successes were their own. Their failures were their own. She had no feelings towards either in that regard. But seeing Hayley in the hospital was making her feel nauseous. It was troubling her.

Beverly tentatively reached over to touch a silky lock. It was the same. The same as when she was a child.

"So soft" she whispered, as she gently stroked her hair. A tear gathered in the corner of her eye as she gazed at her daughter.

"What are you doing?"

Beverly snapped back her hand to her side and turned around startled to see Leonard standing in the doorway holding two steaming cups of hot coffee. He gingerly set the coffee down on the table beside Hayley.

"Don't wake your sister up. Come out into the hallway." Beverly stately coolly. She stood up, straightened her skirt, picked up a coffee and walked out of the room. Leonard followed her out into the hallway. He gave his mother a puzzled look. It was not like her to show any type of affection.

"What are you doing here?" Leonard asked again.

Beverly sighed. "Really Leonard. Why do you ask such obvious questions? I'm here to check on your sister, and to speak with her physician during their morning rounds."

"It's barely six in the morning. I came this early because I didn't want Hayley to wake up alone." Leonard eyed his mother's slightly disheveled appearance. She normally never had a hair out of place. "Were you sitting here all night?"

Beverly ignored Leonard's question, and took a large sip of the coffee that was meant for him. "They are discharging her today. I want to analyse their recommendations and see if I agree. You wouldn't understand the neurological impacts of some of the medications, it's too complicated for you to grasp Leonard." She raised an eyebrow and looked at Leonard whose irritation was evident. "Where did Michael stay last night?"

"I don't know mother. He's a big boy, he can take care of himself. Penny and I stayed in a hotel a few blocks away. Thanks for asking about us by the way" he muttered.

Beverly opened her purse and took out her compact mirror. She then carefully applied her lipstick. "Oh Leonard….you are such a needy child. I have no idea why you constantly seek validation. Do you want Mommy to give you a prize for booking a hotel? Really. I wish Michael were here. I can get more sense out of him."

"Oh yes, your golden child Michael. He can do no wrong in your eyes can he? Why did you always favour Michael so much? Was it out of guilt? Were you subconsciously trying to make up for your failings as a parent?" Leonard said pointedly.

Beverly glared down at Leonard. "Guilt? I have nothing to feel guilty about. Are you trying to psychoanalyze me? You are obviously trying to transfer your feelings of inadequacy and jealousy of your brother to unsubstantiated claims of poor parenting on my part. A sophomoric attempt Leonard. I clothed and sheltered you until you were eighteen. Perhaps you feel inadequate because you are. That's on you. I suggest you try to better yourself, instead of blaming your mother. That's what adults do."

Leonard threw his hands up in frustration. "Did it ever once occur to you that you, yes, you are part of the problem. Why Hayley feels like she is unlovable. Why Michael has lashed out in the ways he has. My desire to feel needed. You can't absolve yourself of any responsibility. We are your children, not your damn houseplants! You have to do more than feed and water us until we are eighteen. We needed to feel love and trust in our parents. That was missing for us, and is a large part of the reason why we are in the mess that we are in." Leonard started pacing around the hallway.

"Really Leonard – " Beverly started.

"You know, I'm trying to wrap my head something. In my head, I would think if I was a parent, and something happened to my child that completely traumatized them, I would notice. I would notice they were behaving differently. I might not know exactly what was wrong, but I would know that something was wrong. Am I crazy to think that way? But you didn't notice. Or did you? Is that when your favouritism came out to play? Why did you favour Michael so heavily?"

"What are you talking about? What are you insinuating?" Beverly cautiously whispered.

"Michael and Hayley couldn't reach out to you because there was no trust. They needed you and you failed mother. You failed horribly."

"I will not be spoken to this way." Beverly snapped. "You have no idea what you are talking about. No idea. You are not even a parent, yet you act like you know everything. You don't. " Beverly said angrily. "I don't have time for your nonsense. I need to make arrangements for Hayley."

"Michael and I are taking care of Hayley. We are staying with her at her house. We don't need your help." Leonard replied.

"I can come over and –"

"Don't" Leonard interrupted. "Just don't. Do us all a favour and leave us alone. We need time to heal. We need family right now, and our family is Hayley, Michael and I."

"Leonard, why are you behaving this way? I am merely –"

Leonard sighed and opened Hayley's door. "Goodbye Mother. Just let the three of us handle this." He looked at his mother's troubled eyes. "Please" he softly implored. Leonard entered Hayley's room and quietly shut the door.

Beverly leaned up against the wall. Her eyes filled with tears. Was Leonard right? Had she completely failed them? Her own children thought that she didn't love them, but they were wrong. She had done what she had thought was best. She wiped the tears from her eyes. Perhaps Leonard was right. She really had failed.

* * *

"I'm telling you, these accusations are completely without merit." Michael said passionately into his cell phone. "It was completely fabricated; there is no truth to it at all. Yes….yes. I understand that, but-" Michael sighed. He placed two suitcases carefully into the trunk of his car, moving the third small one to the side. "Is there anything I can do until the inquiry? Is that Harvard's policy?...Yes, I understand. Please keep me updated."

Michael hit end on his cell phone and stared out at his New Jersey childhood home. He gazed at brick and white house with a large porch in the front. Truth be told, it was a beautiful house. The home held so many memories, good and bad alike. When he lived there he just wanted to escape that house. It felt like a prison for him. The moment he reached eighteen he had moved out to live with friends off campus. Over the years though, the house was losing the power it once held over him. He no longer dreaded going there, and did once in a while to visit his mother. It had simply become a house. Four walls and a roof, but nothing more.

Michael turned his attention back to the car. He had arranged with Leonard last night to go to their home and pick up his and Penny's stuff, so that Leonard and Penny could accompany Hayley home without delay. He had gone to his and Emily's condo earlier that morning and collected his things. He knew that she had an early appointment for work, and that she wouldn't be home. He was thankful that he had not brought too many things from his place in Boston, so he was able to pack quickly. It was funny how quickly things changed. The woman he was going to marry in a couple days, he now couldn't stand to be in the same room with. Life changed so quickly sometimes.

Emily's attempt at ruining his career was proving to be rather successful. He was just informed that an official inquiry would take place to look into the allegations that had been made against him. He assumed that he would ultimately be found innocent, but the damage was done. The reputation that he had built up for himself over the years was gone. People would always wonder if the accusations were true, and think of it first before the accomplishments he had achieved in his academic career. His initial instinct was to lash out at Emily somehow, to drag her through the mud. But what good would that do? It would just start this to and fro that was bound to get endlessly nasty with nobody winning in the end.

If he was really honest with himself, he wasn't really looking forward to heading back to Harvard. It had been a huge goal of his to get where he was all these years, and now that he had accomplished it, he had been getting bored. He wasn't sure if academia was for him. He was good at it, but he craved excitement. That's why idea of entering politics had been so appealing to him. Working with all types of people, the rush of campaigning, making connections, changing the way we do things on a very real level. It stirred an excitement deep within him.

His phone had been ringing off the hook since all those gossip rumours were published online. It did not take too much sleuthing to discover that it was him they were talking about. The constant calls were already taking a toll on him. With each call he was growing increasingly frustrated at the situation he was in. To top things off, he had also made a number of calls to cancel wedding arrangements and venues. At this last minute, no deposits could be returned, and he was getting an earful from their wedding planner and a number of vendors. In particular, the American Museum of Natural History was demanding that he show up in person to discuss the cancellation.

It was still only morning and it was already turning into the most frustrating day ever. His cell phone rang, and the name Jeremy Smith popped up on the screen. It was his NYPD friend.

"Hello" Michael answered.

"Buddy. I managed to get you the information you were looking for. It wasn't easy though. Do you want me to text you the number?"

"Jeremy, you are the best. You have no idea how much this means to me. Yes, please text it to me."

"No prob. I'll send it to you right away. Let's catch up for a beer soon."

"Definitely" Michael replied as he hit end. A minute later a text popped onto his phone with a cell phone number.

Michael took a deep breath. His life was a mess but hopefully he could makes things right. He needed to do whatever he could to make things right. He stared at his phone for a minute and the clicked on the number.

"Hello?" a man's voice answered.

"Mitchell? My name is Michael Hofstadter, I'm Hayley's brother. Please…Please wait, don't hang up. You need to hear me out. The information you've been told about Hayley is untrue.…"

* * *

Hayley sat down on her light grey couch in her living room. It felt good to be out of the hospital and back home. Leonard and Penny exchanged a worried look as they sat with her in the living room.

"I don't want you to worry about anything. Leonard and I have it covered. I just want you to relax and enjoy being at home. Can I get you anything? A pillow, a book, water, a blanket? " Penny asked anxiously.

Leonard smiled at her and squeezed Hayley's hand. "Anything to make you comfortable Hale. It's just us, so just be yourself. Sleep, rant, cry…it's all ok with us."

Hayley smiled back at them. It was amazing that both her brothers and Penny rallied to stay with her. They had picked up her children, and they were up in their rooms getting settled in. She had been worried about coming back home. Facing Nate. Facing Phoebe and Daniel. What was she going to tell them about everything that had happened? She didn't know what was happening herself. All she knew that was that she couldn't go back to the life that she had been living. She had texted Nate earlier and told him that she needed some time to herself with the children. He had been oddly agreeable. She looked over at Penny who looked so eager to help her.

"A glass of water would be nice" she responded as she smiled at Penny.

Penny smiled back at her. "Sure thing. Are the glasses in the cupboard by the sink?"

"Yes" Hayley replied.

Hayley watched as Penny walked into the kitchen. The blender was still out on the counter. The blender. Her last vain attempt at making things work with Nate. It seemed so stupid in retrospect. What was she thinking? That a nice breakfast would somehow heal her marriage? It felt so embarrassing when she thought of her efforts and the fact that Nate had been rushing off to hook up with another woman.

The doorbell rang. Leonard jumped up and answered the door. Michael was standing there looking exhausted with three suitcases in front of him.

"Here, let me help you with those" Leonard offered. He grabbed his and Penny's suitcase. Michael brought his in. Penny put down the glass of water in front of Hayley.

"Leonard, you and Penny can stay in the spare room upstairs. Michael you can stay in the spare room on the main floor." Hayley suggested. Leonard grabbed the suitcases and headed up the stairs.

"Here, I'll help get us set up upstairs. Hayley do you need anything else?" Penny asked.

Hayley smiled at Penny. "No I'm ok thanks. You guys go settle in. I'll just catch up with Michael here."

"Ok" Penny replied. She headed up the stairs after Leonard.

Michael sat down next to Hayley and pulled her into a deep hug. "Oh, It's so good to see you out of that place. I never want to see you in the hospital again."

Hayley gave him a sad smile. "It's weird being home. It's my home with Nate, and everything has a memory attached to it. I mean it feels good to be home, but strange at the same time. I just can't believe it's over in a sense. It feels surreal."

Michael looked at Hayley concerned. "Hayley, are you sure you are ok being home? And with us staying with you? Would you rather stay somewhere else? I don't want you to feel stressed in any way."

"No..no. I think it's best that I am home. It's best for the kids too. I guess it's just a new reality that I have to get used to. There is no point in avoiding it."

"Well if you are sure. Don't feel bad if you change your mind. We can always figure something else out." Michael looked at Hayley and bit his lip nervously. "Hayley, I'm not sure if this is the best time, but I want to talk to you about something."

Hayley looked at him puzzled. "What is it?"

Michael took a deep breath. "I spoke to Mitchell."

Hayley could feel the blood leave her face and her fingers go cold. She had avoided thinking about Mitchell. It just made her feel sick to think that he thought badly of her. She just felt so foolish. First for trying with Nate, and then for loving a man who she was sure would never love her back. What had Michael said? Her stomach started churning. "What? Oh no…Michael what did you say? Did he talk to you?"

"Well he didn't want to. Emily had him really snowed, that's for sure. I told him that Emily was angry with me and was out to get all the people that I loved. I told him that she fabricated the whole story about you being obsessed with him. That the whole thing was untrue. We talked for a while, he believes me. I proved to him how the doctor that called him did not exist. I think he had a hard time believing Emily's story in the first place because of the strength of your friendship. I told him you were unwell, but I didn't go into great detail. He was quite concerned."

"You didn't tell him about my feelings did you?"

Michael squeezed her hand. "No. That's your decision. You need to do what is best for you, and only you know what that is. I do like him though. He's very soft spoken, but interesting. Genuine."

Hayley smiled softly. "Yes that he is."

"Well, he is probably going to contact you at some point. Hale, I'm so sorry for putting you through this." Michael sighed. Hayley looked at her brother. He looked absolutely exhausted. He had bags under his eyes, like he had not slept at all. He looked so sad and completely stressed at the same time.

"Michael, why don't you go lie down and take a nap. I'm ok here. I'm sure Leonard and Penny will be down soon, so you don't need to worry."

He smiled at her. "Are you sure? I just need a little rest, and then I'll be ok." He grabbed his small suitcase and started to head down the hall.

"Michael?" she called out.

He turned around and looked at his sister. "Yes?"

"I love you." Hayley smiled at her youngest brother.

He smiled back at her. "I love you too."

* * *

Michael started opened up his small suitcase in his room and took out his toiletry bag. He just wanted to brush his teeth and sleep for a few hours. He took out a t-shirt from his bag when he could feel a set of eyes watching him. He turned around to see Phoebe staring at him.

"Hi Uncle Michael" she said softly.

"Hi Phoebe" he replied. An awkward silence filled the air. She walked into the room and sat on the bed. She gave him a serious look. She was fidgeting around like she wanted to say something.

She took a deep breath. "Why did you hit my dad?"

Michael looked at her perplexed. What was he going to say to her? He couldn't tell her everything that happened. She was just a child. "Did he tell you I hit him?" he asked.

"Well no, but I overheard him talking about it on his phone."

"I shouldn't have done that. It's not right to hit people."

"He hurt my mom didn't he? He did something, and that's why she got sick. That's why he's not here and you and Uncle Leonard and Auntie Penny are here isn't it?"

"Oh Phoebe…" he whispered. "It's not that simple. I guess I got angry at him for hurting your mom. But I hurt your mom also."

"I told Auntie Penny not to trust you." Phoebe said flatly.

Michael sighed as he unpacked some more clothes onto the dresser. "Sound advice Phoebe. I haven't been the nicest person, that's for sure."

Phoebe twisted her hair. "Well, I knew you were up to something when you were snooping in my mom's phone. You're not a very good liar."

"Well maybe I am, but you are just very perceptive." Michael replied.

Phoebe smiled at his reply. "I like that. It's like I am a super spy or something." Her face went serious. "Are my parents going to get a divorce?" she said in a scared whisper.

Michael looked at her sadly. "Oh Phoebe….I can't say. That is up to your mom and dad. You need to talk to them about that."

Phoebe looked at Michael with wide eyes. "My dad is mean to my mom. I can see it. I live here every day. He makes her sad. She is happier when he's not here. I don't want her to be sad all the time."

Tears filled Michael's eyes. "Oh Phoebe. None of us want to see your mom sad. That's why we are here, to help make your mom feel better."

Phoebe gave him a sad smile. "Well, I'm going to keep my eye on you. But I definitely like you a lot better now that you've gotten rid of Emily. I really hated her."

Michael laughed and shook his head. "You and me both. How did you know about Emily? You seem to know everything."

"Well I am a super spy" Phoebe giggled. "Well I am going to go hang out with my mom." She hopped off the bed and headed towards the door.

"Phoebe?" Michael called out.

"Yes?" she replied.

"I'm going to earn your trust back. I promise you that." Michael said seriously. Phoebe gave Michael a little smile and ran out of the room.

* * *

"Well….that meal was interesting" Michael joked as he loaded the last dishes in the dishwasher. Penny and Leonard gave each other a look, and then stared at the casserole dish with blackened cheese.

Hayley smiled at Penny. "It's so sweet of you to cook tonight. I kind of liked the blackened pasta. It gave a nice crunch."

"It's not my fault. I'm not familiar with this kitchen" Penny protested. She tried in vain to scrape the cheese off the dish. "Hey Leonard…you helped too, I can't take all the blame."

Leonard laughed. "I think that pan a lost cause at this point. Let's just let it soak. How about we go relax in the living room." The four headed into the living room and sat down.

"The kids sure knocked out early" Penny stated.

"Yeah, I think the last few days has been hard on them. I think they are happy to be back home in their own rooms." Hayley answered.

Michael sat down and looked around the room at his family. "You know…it's been so long since we've hung out together. I honestly can't remember the last time that we did. Probably not since we all lived in the same house."

"I know…" Leonard said softly. "It feels weird….but nice at the same time. I kind of feel like we should be torturing each other or something."

Michael laughed. "Well, I'm game. Should we start with Leonard's crush on the mom from Family Ties, or Hayley's love of cheesy 90's hip hop?"

Penny started laughing and looked at Leonard. "Family Ties? Really?"

"I did not have a crush. She was just such a sweet mom…..and she had really nice hair. So shiny…" Leonard trailed off. "Wait what about you Michael? I seem to recall you and your friends trying to start your own boy band with your friends."

Michael started laughing. "Hey we managed to book a bar mitzvah once."

"And Skee Lo was a legend! He's not cheesy." Hayley protested.

"Didn't he have one hit?" Leonard laughed.

"When you create the perfect song, you don't need to write any more hits." Hayley countered.

"I'm not sure if I'm familiar with that song? Skee Lo? I haven't heard of him. Was he really big?" Penny asked.

"No" Michael replied.

"Yes" Hayley countered punching Michael in the arm. "Oh my God…I can't believe you don't know Skee Lo. I'm sure you'll recognize it if you hear it." Hayley looked at her brothers and grinned. "I'll get us started. _I wish I was a little bit taller_ "

" _I wish I was a baller"_ Leonard added.

" _I wish I had a girl who looked good, I would call her"_ Michael grinned. The three siblings broke out laughing.

"I do know that song! It was on some car commercial recently. It is really catchy." Penny exclaimed.

"Penny, I have a whole world of songs to introduce you to….you're going to love it!" Hayley replied.

"Oh good Lord…..I have a feeling it's going to be a 90's hip hop revival at our place" Leonard groaned.

Penny grinned and winked at Hayley. She crossed her legs under her on the couch . "So…" she started mischievously. "Tell me which one of you is the smartest?"

The three siblings all looked at each other with a grin on their faces.

"Me!" they all yelled in unison. They started laughing again.

"Well, in all honesty, both my brothers are brilliant." Hayley said softly. They smiled back at her.

"I think if we are being objective, I think Hayley did the best on all her Christmas essays. Even though they enraged Mom, she still got pretty good marks on it. Plus she's a brilliant scientist, sister and mother. My vote is for Hayley." Leonard gently stated.

"I agree" Michael replied quickly.

"Well this is quite the love fest" Hayley blushed. "Leonard, we haven't seen you in so long. We heard about your paper. That's amazing. I'm so proud of you. It's really a brilliant idea you two presented."

"Thanks. I'm really excited about this, I really think we may be onto to something big. I'm in the middle of designing a new experiment towards testing this theory."

"Well…" Michael started. "I think what you've come up with sounds amazing, but I admit it. I really don't understand what you do Leonard. Physics was never really my forte. Is it true you really believe in multiple universes. Like in the movies?"

Leonard smiled. "Well, not all physicists subscribe to that theory, but I believe it. We like to call it the multiverse, or the many worlds interpretation in quantum mechanics. Basically, all possible alternatives or choices one could make are realized in and create a different universe. All possible paths in the past and present exist."

"Man…that is hard to wrap your head around . Like If I had made a different career decision that would create a totally different world in a sense where that choice was realized. But I am just one person and that was just one choice. There would be have to be an infinite amount of universes out there then. It's just so abstract. How do you even begin trying to prove something like that?" Michael shook his head. "I've never told you this before, but wow Leonard. What you do is exceptional. I'm really proud of you."

Penny squeezed Leonard's hand. "I'm really proud of you too. Not just for what you do at work, but for the person you are."

Leonard flushed red. "You guys…I'm not used to this praise. Maybe we should go back to making fun of each other…"

"You know…I think the multiverse sounds really romantic." Hayley said softly. "I like to think there is a world out there where all your dreams have a possibility of being reality. It's really beautiful in a way."

"I always thought so" Leonard said softly. He looked at Penny, Hayley and Michael. "I think we are all dreamers. It's nice to think of world where everything is perfect, but I'll tell you this. I wouldn't change my reality with having you two as my brother and sister, and you Penny as my fiancé for anything."

 **A/N: Sorry this chapter took me so long to write. I went on vacation since the last chapter, and then have been quite busy with life. I do have an undying love for 90's hip hop, as my playlist attests to. And yes Kaley Cuoco starred in that Toyota commercial with the Skee Lo song playing! = ) A special thanks to allanjay who informed me about universities "inquiry" procedure, and for encouraging me to start writing again. Thanks for reading and reviewing. This story will probably wrap up in about 3 chapters or so. Thanks!**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Hayley was pacing back and forth in her room. It was quite late at night but she couldn't settle down. She felt like a bundle of nervous energy that couldn't be dissipated. She stared at the bed. How could she go to sleep? That was where she normally slept beside Nate. Everything in the room had some memory attached to Nate. She needed to think about something else. Work..no..that reminded her of Mitchell. Her mother? She had been acting quite strangely. Her brothers…yes that was a safe topic these days

This evening had been nice. She hadn't been able to hang out with her brothers in such a long time, and it felt so good. It felt like home. She had really gotten to know Penny, and it was so nice seeing Leonard. Something was off about Michael though. He looked so drained and stressed out. She knew a part of it was because of her situation, but there was something that he wasn't telling her. Something was bothering him and he wasn't telling her because he didn't want to stress her out. What was it? She hoped that he wasn't stressing about the situation with Emily.

She could hear Penny closing the bathroom door and heading down the hall. "Penny?" she called out.

Penny peaked her head into her bedroom. "Hey Hayley? Are you ok?" she asked.

Hayley patted the bed and nodded for Penny to come in. Penny came into the room and sat on her bed. She was wearing her pyjama's and a light silk robe over it.

"I'm not keeping you up am I?" Hayley asked.

"Not at all. I think I'm still on LA time or something. I am totally awake. Leonard on the other hand is snoring away like a chainsaw. What's up? Are you ok?"

Hayley sighed. "I'm ok. It's nice being home and weird at the same time. I'm just not ready to think about Nate, and then when I look around this room, all I see is Nate. I just need to focus on something else. At least for the time being."

"That's fair" Penny said empathetically. She scanned the beautifully decorated bedroom and saw all the photographs of the couple. "Well, maybe to start, it would help if you weren't staring at Nate's face right now. So how about we just put some of these photos aside for tonight. Let's make this bedroom a bit of a neutral zone. Actually a Hayley zone."

"A Hayley zone?" she laughed. "What is that?"

Penny quickly walked around the room and grabbed the framed photos of Hayley and Nate and put them in her closet. She picked up the tv remote and read through the guide. She put on an old episode of Project Runway. She then took her phone out of her robe and opened Spotify and chose a 90's hip hop stream.

A big smile broke out on Hayley's face. She smiled at the television. "How'd you know?"

"Well, I have a keen eye for fashion, and everything you've worn has been amazing. I had a feeling you might like this show." Penny smiled at Hayley. "Does your room feel a bit better?"

Hayley sat down on the bed next to her. "Penny you are really awesome. Thank-you. Yes, it's made all the difference. It does feel like a Hayley zone now." She gave a thoughtful look to Penny. "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything" Penny quickly responded.

"Did Michael mention that something was bothering him? He's seems really off. Like he's keeping something from us."

Penny shook her head. "He hasn't said anything to us. I mean, I don't know Michael that well yet. I know he must be tired from the past few days, and everything that happened with you. Maybe that's just it? Plus he just cancelled his wedding. That has to be stressful."

Hayley bit her lip and stared off into space. "You're right…but I just have a feeling it's something more. If anything, he seems a bit relieved to not be going through with this wedding."

"Well I know he's been making a lot of calls cancelling stuff. It's probably just getting to him. Leonard and I could talk to him in the morning, and see what's going on."

"Sure…but I'm not sure if he'll open up. I just can't put my finger on it. It's just a gut feeling. I'm worried about him." Hayley's phone started buzzing on her bedside table. She walked over and picked it up. It was from her friend Rachelle.

 _Rachelle: Did your brother really get fired from Harvard? Is the stuff they said true?_

Hayley frowned. What was she talking about? She quickly texted back.

 _Hayley: I've been disconnected from the grid for the past few days. What are you talking about?_

 _Rachelle: Brace yourself. It's posted everywhere. It's pretty obvious to everyone it's Michael. I'll send you the links._

Instantaneously her phone started buzzing with incoming texts from Rachelle. Hayley quickly opened the link, and scanned the "blind" gossip articles. Her face started to flush with anger, as she angrily tapped through the links.

Penny looked at her concerned. "Hey what's going on? Is Nate bothering you? Cause if he is, I have a few choice words for him, and I'm not afraid to say them."

"It's Emily. Dammit. It's her. I know it's her. She's trying to ruin Michael's life." Hayley sputtered.

"What are you talking about?"

"Look at this." She tossed Penny her phone.

Penny quickly read the article and her eyes went wide. "Whoah….that's crazy. I mean it doesn't say it's Michael. They can't fire him based on a gossip article can they?"

"No they can't. But who knows how far Emily took this. She impersonated a doctor to screw with me. I'm sure she would have no problem setting something up at Harvard if it was to her benefit. I'm sure Harvard is investigating." Hayley crossed her arms. "She's not going to get away with this."

Penny looked at Hayley curiously. "Umm…are we sure that this rumour isn't true? I mean, Michael seems like he might –"

"-No." Hayley interrupted. "Michael may be a player, but he would never risk his job like that. Never. I don't know what he did with his extracurricular hours, but I know it would be with no one related to the University. He wouldn't risk it. I know him, and he would never do that. He worked so hard to get to that position. This has Emily written all over it."

"Ugh..she's just awful. I hate what she did to you, and I hate how she was trying to manipulate me into hating you and mistrusting Leonard. Now this thing with Michael. She can't just get away with everything. God, she pisses me off so badly. I'm surprised Michael isn't doing anything about it."

"Well….this is the first I've heard about it. I knew Michael was acting a bit off. I think he's feeling guilty about everything, so he's letting the cards fall where they may. I don't think he should though. They both had the opportunity to walk away, but she's hell bent on causing trouble for him."

"What do you think we should do? I want her to pay, but I can see this getting really nasty and out of hand really quick."

Hayley started pacing the room. "Well, maybe we should take a page from Emily's book. Bascially she tried to find the things that were most important to us, and attacked there."

"What's important to Emily? I know she's a judge, so her career is pretty important to her."

"No…no… not work." Hayley kept pacing the room. She snapped her fingers. "This wedding. This wedding made it clear to me. She wants the spotlight. To be talked about. To be that "it" girl. She was going crazy about the fact that a New York Times journalist came to the party. She wants that fame so badly. Did you notice on all those gossip posts, how positive she was written. Gorgeous fiancé. Pillar of the community?" Hayley started laughing as she shook her head.

Penny looked at her seriously. "What do you have in mind?"

"Well if Emily wants to be famous, then let's make her famous. Let's make her the most talked about person in the New York Social scene."

Penny laughed. "I know I should be discouraging you, but this is too good. I want her to pay. Boy do I want her to pay."

"I need to think. It's got to be something good. Something that sends a clear message. " Her phone started to buzz again on the bed. She picked it up and saw Mitchell's name flash across the screen with a text message. Her heart momentarily jumped when she saw his name. She quickly put her phone face down on her dresser. She needed to focus. One thing at a time.

She turned to Penny. She had been so supportive and kind. It was unfair that her vacation was getting completely ruined with this whole mess. Perhaps she could kill two birds with one stone. "I'm still pretty worried about Michael. He mentioned that he had to go down to the American Museum of Natural History tomorrow to cancel his booking. Do you and Leonard mind going with him? I think he could use the support of his brother and you. Besides, you need to go see some of the sites of New York. I don't want you to spend your entire vacation sitting here. That museum is amazing! It'll make me feel better if I knew you got to have some fun on your trip here."

Penny smiled at Hayley. "Don't feel bad. I came to New York to meet Leonard's family, and that is what I am doing. I'm enjoying getting to know you all better. This whole thing brought us closer together. I feel bad about leaving you home alone. And what about the whole Emily thing?"

"Don't feel bad. I'm ok. I think it would be good for me to spend some time with my kids. I've missed them. That's my plan for tomorrow. I'll be ok. As for Emily…I need to think. I don't want to act rashly and this blow into a worse situation for my brother."

"Well ok then, I wouldn't mind going into the city and exploring the sites." Penny yawned and looked at the clock. "Wow, I can't believe its 1 am."

"You get some rest. I'm sure Leonard is going to think of a million places he'll want to show you tomorrow."

"Ok, I'll head to bed." She went over and gave Hayley a hug. She smiled at her. "I feel like I have another sister now."

Hayley smiled back warmly. "I feel like I finally have a sister. Thanks Penny...for everything."

Penny smiled and left the room. Hayley stared at her turned over phone lying on the table. Mitchell. She had been dying to hear from him, and at the same time she was dreading it. What was he going to say? She took a big breath and opened the text.

 _Mitchell: Is this a good time to call? I'd really like to speak with you._

Hayley's arms shook as she stared at the phone. Was she ready to speak with Mitchell? She almost preferred to leave him to be a bit of a question mark in her head. She couldn't keep living this way. She hit reply and quickly texted.

 _Hayley: Now is ok._

She was fearing the call and desiring the call so badly at the same time. Suddenly the phone started vibrating.

"Hello" Hayley answered softly.

"Hi Hayley. How are you?" His rich deep voice made her sigh.

"Umm…I'm doing ok. Thanks" she stuttered nervously. An awkward silence fell between them. Normally they spoke so easily, and now it felt so laboured. She could hear Mitchell take a deep breath.

"Hayley I'm so sorry. I'm incredibly sorry for believing that story about you. You're one of my closest friends, I should have known what she said was ridiculous. The way she spoke…she was just so convincing. I should have known better. I'm really sorry Hayley. Can you ever forgive me?"

Hayley smiled softly. "Of course I forgive you. There is nothing to forgive Mitchell. It was all Emily. She used to be an amazing lawyer, very skilled at the art of persuasion. It's easy to believe what she says" Hayley sighed. "She's a real piece of work. That's for sure."

"How did you brother get mixed up with someone like that? So vindictive? It's so weird that she'd try to pick on our work friendship of all things. I guess she knows how important your work is to you."

Hayley gulped. "Yeah…that must be it."

"The more I think about it, the angrier I get at myself." Mitchell said. "Her whole premise is so ridiculous. A romantic obsession? Between us? How wild is that?"

Hayley gave out a nervous laugh. "It's a bit crazy –"

"I know I can say with confidence, I have never once thought of you that way. And I'm sure that you haven't thought of me that way either. I mean…" Mitchell laughed. "Us in love with each other? I can't even picture that."

Hayley's eyes filled with tears. "Crazy indeed…" she choked out.

"I know!" Mitchell exclaimed. "You're like one of the guys to me. Always have been. But to get onto more important things. Are you feeling ok? Michael said you were unwell?"

Hayley took a big breath. "I'm ok. I just let myself get a little run down is all. I'll be fine."

"Well I want you to rest and get better. Take it easy, you push yourself too hard all the time. Don't worry about work. I'll figure out this grant issue. I'm sure we can get an extension somehow. They are reasonable people."

"Thanks Mitchell. I appreciate that."

"Well you just rest. I'm so glad to be speaking with you again Hale. I really missed you. I better go though, it's quite late. Sweet Dreams."

"Sweet Dreams" she replied in a barely audible whisper.

She hit end on her phone and walked over to her mirror and stared at herself. Her eyes were bloodshot, her face was pale and her hair was tied back in a messy ponytail. She slowly stroked the reflection of her face in the mirror.

"Well Hale…he thought the idea us of being in love was ridiculous. I always knew he felt that way. I always knew. I always knew…." She looked at her red tinged eyes, but there were no more tears to be had. She shivered. "Why does it hurt so bad to hear it out loud?"

She knew why. It made it real.

* * *

"Thanks for coming with me, it's nice to have the company." Michael said as he, Leonard and Penny entered the museum.

Leonard patted Michael on the back. "No problem buddy. We're here for you. Do you remember when we used to come here as kids. I loved coming here so much."

"Me too. This was always one of my favourite places. Actually, I was the one that wanted to have our rehearsal dinner here, not Emily. When she found out how sought after a place it was to have events, she changed her mind. This event was planned exclusively by me. I guess it was the one event where it was all the things I liked. I don't know why they are giving me such a hard time about cancelling though. I know I'm not getting my deposit back, but they insisted that I come in. I have a feeling I'm going to get an earful." Michael groaned.

"Just think Michael, in a week, this will all be a distant memory. You can put this whole wedding and Emily behind you." Leonard encouraged.

Penny was looking around taking in the expanse of the large museum. "This place is huge. I don't know where to begin." Penny exclaimed.

"Oh, don't you worry. I know the best parts of this museum. I'll provide you with an expert guided tour. But how about we walk Michael to where he needs to go, and then we'll go off from there and explore. Michael, where is your meeting?"

"It's in the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life. It's where we were going to have the party." Michael replied.

"The Blue Whale! Penny you are going to love this." Leonard exclaimed.

The trio headed off to the museum hall. They finally came upon the entrance of the hall. Michael pushed open the door and they entered the room. Penny gasped audibly and put her hand to her mouth. At the centre of the room was an enormous blue whale suspended from the ceiling. The walls were covered in dioramas of the oceans flora and fauna. There was a large oak dancefloor in the centre. The room was filled with tall tree like flower arrangements with cascading purple orchids in glowing tall vases. The room felt like an enchanted aquarium.

Penny turned to Leonard with a look of wonder. "It's so beautiful. I've never seen anything quite like this. I feel like I stepped into an enchanted underwater forest." She continued gazing around the room with a look of sheer awe on her face.

"Looks like Michael really went all out. It's normally really nice in here, but this is something else. That's for sure."

Penny ran her hand down one of the tall vases then gently touched an orchid petal. "Can you imagine getting married in a place like this? It's like walking into a fairy tale. It would be like a dream come true." She glanced over at Leonard who suddenly looked sad.

"I wish we could afford something like this Penny. It's just so expensive….it would put us in so much debt I can't even imagine" Leonard said softly.

Penny squeezed Leonard's hand. "Don't listen to me, I'm just being silly. All this fancy stuff doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm marrying you. I'd get married in an old barn, as long as I don't get any mud on my heels" Penny joked.

"Are you sure?" Leonard asked pensively. "I want you to have the wedding of your dreams. We can do better than our original Vegas plan."

"We will Leonard. When we get back, we'll plan a small intimate wedding, and it'll be perfect." Penny looked around the room again. "I'm going to go check out more of the room." She walked off to the other side of the room.

Leonard sighed and then glanced over at Michael who appeared to be in a heated debate with a small wiry man with glasses. The man was writing furiously in his book and tapping on his calculator. He finally shut the book, and walked out of the room. Leonard wandered over to Michael.

"What was that about?" Leonard asked.

"Ugh. I don't know why he keeps going on and on. Basically, he's going complaining on how this cancellation has affected him in the greatest detail. How the museum lost out on publicity, the chef is angry, musicians, decorators. The list goes on and on. I just hope he finishes up soon. He went to his office to get something." Michael grumbled. He noticed his brother was frowning while watching Penny.

"What's bothering you?" he asked.

"Oh…" Leonard started. "When Penny saw this place she said getting married here would be like her fairy tale wedding. I wish I could give her dream, but it's so expensive. We have so much debt. I'd never be able to book a place like this. It just bums me out. I want Penny to have the wedding she always wanted."

Michael leaned back against the bar and stared at his brother. He was looking at his fiancé so wistfully. He cleared his throat. "So why don't you?"

Leonard looked at him puzzled. "Why don't I what?"

"Get married here." Michael said with a grin.

"What are you talking about? We just can't get married here just like that!"

"Why not?"

"Because that would mean we are getting married tomorrow. And we have no rings, no outfits, we haven't told our families. Plus this is something you and Emily booked. No offense but the karma…"

"These are just details Leonard. Small details. They couldn't rent it out again due to the short notice, so the place is available. You two can easily get rings for tomorrow. The Hofstadter side can be there for your wedding. You can ask Penny if she wants her family to fly out. I've got lots of points they could use. Emily and I weren't getting married here, it was only for a rehearsal dinner. AND, I might add, that Emily had no part in planning this event, it was all me. So there is no "Emily" vibe here. So what's standing in your way?"

"Michael…you're crazy. We couldn't." Leonard looked at Michael with wide eyes. "Could we?"

Michael laughed. "Of course you can. The question is, do you both want to?"

Leonard flashed a big smile. "I'll be right back." He jetted over to where Penny was across the room. Michael watched as his brother spoke animatedly to her. Penny at first looked confused, but then a smile broke out on her face. She squealed and then jumped into Leonard's arms. Leonard flashed a thumbs up to Michael.

"Awesome" Michael whispered to himself. The museum's event coordinator Gerald returned to the room. He handed Michael a piece of paper.

"This is the amount owing, including your cancellation fees." Gerald said sternly.

Michael folded the piece of paper and put it in his pocket. "What would you say, if I told you I have another event that could be held that night? Much smaller and intimate. My brother and his fiancé there are looking to get married and to have a small dinner. No more than ten or so people. You said that you couldn't book this room out on such short notice anyways, so what do you say?"

"I'd say, it's possible but it's going to cost you. It's a lot of work for me, and frankly, I'm not feeling all that charitable towards you."

Michael sighed. "Well, give me a ballpark. What will it cost to make this happen for tomorrow night? And I want it done right."

Gerald stared at Michael, and then wrote a figure in his notebook and then handed it to him.

Michael gasped. "You've got to be kidding me?"

"I'm under no obligation to even rent it to you again. If that price doesn't fit your budget, then we can end our conversation right here."

Michael looked at Leonard and Penny. They looked so happy and in love. Maybe this was the way he could finally try to make amends to his brother. He turned to Gerald. "No..no. It's fine. I'll figure it out. We have a deal."

"Great. Well I have a lot of work to do to prepare for tomorrow. I'll be in contact with you for the details."

"Sounds good."

Gerald left the room. Michael continued staring at his brother and Penny talking animatedly across the room. He took a sip from his bottle of water and then held the bottle up to them in a private toast.

"Happy wedding big brother"

* * *

Emily was preparing lunch in her condo when her cell phone rang. She sat down on her couch and looked at the number. It was unknown. She hit answer.

"Hello?" she answered hesitantly.

"Emily? It's Jason Shuback calling from the New York Times. I'm not sure you remember me. I interviewed you and Michael at Hayley Hofstadter's home?"

Emily flushed. Was he going to pull the article now that her and Michael had split? She didn't want to be cast in a negative light.

"Of course I remember you. It was so nice speaking with you. I assume you are calling about the article you were writing about us?" she fished.

"Well, yes. If the rumours that were published are true, then I am to believe that you and Michael are no longer getting married?"

Emily cleared her throat. "Well, I won't speak to the validity of the rumours regarding Michael, but I can confirm that he and I are no longer together."

"Oh I'm sorry Emily. It's sad when a relationship ends." Jason said softly.

"Thank-you." Emily replied flatly.

"Well the reason I am calling, is I'm hoping to give you an opportunity to say your piece. You are really an inspiration to so many young women out there. Your career trajectory has been phenomenal, not to mention your charitable works in the community. We have a last minute opportunity for an op ed piece, and I think you'd be perfect. I think you could give a lot of inspiration to women out there. How you dealt with a cheating partner, how it can happen to anyone. We are looking for something really raw and honest. Do you think it would be something you'd be interested in? The deadline is extremely tight, but it's an amazing opportunity."

Emily smiled. "I'm definitely interested. I think I could…be a help to other women out there."

"Fantastic!" Jason exclaimed. "I'll send you an email laying out all the requirements. I'll need you to write something by this afternoon though, so our editorial staff can review it. It's highly unorthodox for us to do this so last minute, but our existing op ed piece fell apart. If this article doesn't work out, we will just have to run another previously approved article. We hope to have this in the paper tomorrow."

"Tomorrow! Oh wow. Yes, then I'm totally on board, and am a quick writer. Just send me the requirements."

"Thank-you so much Emily. Just promise me one thing"

"What?" Emily enquired.

"Don't go easy on Michael. Let's just say….we have a history, and not a good one." Jason said quietly.

Emily smiled. "Oh Jason, I don't think that will be a problem."

Emily hung up the call and smiled. A whole op ed article about her! In the New York Times! It was like a dream come true. She opened up her computer to wait for Jason's email, and look for a beautiful photo of herself, to submit for the article. Things were really looking up.

Emily laughed to herself as she flipped through the photos. "Oh boy Michael….you better be worried. Really worried."

 **A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing. I really appreciate it. = )**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Emily was rushing around her condo getting ready. Today was going to be game changing. She made last minute touches to her makeup and looked in the mirror. Perfect. She was meeting some of her most influential friends for brunch. She had told them that she was going to be featured in the New York Times today, and they were all eager to read it. She made them promise not to read the issue until she was there at brunch, where she had an issue bought for each of them waiting at their table. It was going to be glorious.

Jason had sent her the final mock-up of the article late last night. Everything looked perfect. The article she had written would make Michael slither away in shame and embarrassment. She couldn't wait to see it happen.

Her cell phone buzzed, and to her surprise Hayley's name flashed across the screen. "What does she want?" she muttered to herself. She opened the text.

 _Hayley: I hope you have a fabulous day._

Emily frowned as she looked at the text. What was that about? Was she still in the hospital? Obviously Hayley was still a couple of screws loose. Well there was no time for that, she needed to get to the restaurant.

* * *

Emily walked into the restaurant to see her guests had all arrived and were seated at the table. There was a large stack of papers in the centre of the table for each of them as requested.

"Hello Emily! We're so excited to read your article. You teased us with how it's going to be eye opening." Judith remarked.

Emily laid her purse on the table and smiled at the group. It was really quite an influential group. An editor at Vogue, a producer from Broadway, a board trustee from the Met, a banker from Wall Street, a trader, a few friends from the legal profession. She smiled broadly at the group. "It's always been a dream of mine to have an article about me in the New York Times. The fact that I got to actually write the article put me on cloud nine. I think you'll find the article raw, eye opening, and hopefully inspirational. Well I don't want to keep you waiting any longer."

She handed them each their own copy of the New York Times. She turned to the page of the article. Her heart quickly started racing when she didn't see the photo of herself, but one of Hayley smiling sweetly. Her eyes quickly went to the article.

 _Sycophant or Saint? – Why Public Image is a Poor Reflection of Your True Self_

 _By Dr. Hayley T. Hofstadter_

 _I often get asked why I decided to go into my field of research. For background, I have a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and do medical research in field of Diabetes at Columbia University. Did I go into this area to save lives? Did I have a personal connection in my own family to the disease which spurred an interest into the area? The answer goes from simple one to more complicated. When I was a child, I was constantly asked: what do you want to be when you grow up? A doctor, a teacher, a scientist, a police officer, the POTUS were my answers over the years. Then the inevitable follow up question would be: Why do you want to do that? My reply was always – because I want to help people. A doctor heals, a teacher educates, a scientist explores, a police officer helps citizens and maintains order, and the president…well being the president just sounded like the coolest job ever at the time._

 _Why do we do the things we do? Is it to help people? The reasons on why begin to morph and change as we move towards our goal. For example, say you are in high school, and decide that you want to become a medical doctor. You want to get into university, so first you need good grades. Wait…good grades are not enough, there is a lot of competition out there. You have to make yourself the best candidate possible. You need to be the class valedictorian, you need to play an instrument, you need to play on a sports team, you need to have a hobby in the arts, you need to volunteer for a humane cause, you need to connect to the right people. If you do all these things perfectly, then hopefully you can reach your goal. Oh yeah…what was that again? To be a doctor. We get caught up in all the activities, often we forget the end goal._

 _Even when we achieve the end goal, we are still mired in lifestyle that got us there. And to be perfectly honest, there is nothing wrong with that lifestyle as long as you don't forget why you are doing what you are doing. If you have a love and passion for what you do, then you will be happy._

 _My world recently came crashing down because I got caught up in the details. I lost sight of the why and got caught up in the how. I was lost in a world of sycophants pretending to be saints. My ex-future sister-in-law Emily Stevenson opened my eyes. But not in the way that she thought._

 _I recently had a mental breakdown – or a psychotic break as they call it. Now why am I telling you all this? Why am I not keeping this quiet and blasting this fact in the New York Times? Well…perhaps it's my way of trying to get back to the original goal – helping people._

 _What caused this psychotic break? If you look at the outside, I had it all. I am married with two beautiful children, I'm exceling in my career, I'm well connected in the community through the arts. So what's my problem?_

 _It was all a facade. Minus the loving my children, the rest was a show. I knew my husband didn't love me, but I clung on because I did not want to fail. I ignored his treatment of me and blatant cheating, and tried to find love and acceptance is places that were barren. I was excelling at work, but I was forever chasing that next grant or working to get published in prestigious journals. I lost sight of the very real people that I wanted to help in the first place. I kept myself busy in the New York social scene, but it was mainly to fill a loneliness I felt inside._

 _It took looking at someone that was so blindly ambitious for all of the things that I had, that knocked me out of the pattern that I had been stuck in. Emily did that for me. She wanted everything that I had and was so coldly calculating about getting it. She wanted to be that it girl. Super connected in the social scene, a huge success at work, with a handsome and successful husband. She had a plan, and she deemed me and my middle brother as roadblocks to her success. What do you do with roadblocks? You eliminate. You manipulate. You incapacitate. She was unsuccessful with my brother, due to the strength of his relationship with his fiancé, but she succeeded with me. She toppled that fragile deck of cards that was my life by not letting me hide. She showed me that I was unloved. That I was a joke. She threw it in my face in such a way that I could not look away or ignore. The small string of hope I had been clinging to, she severed with an axe._

 _And I crumbled. Magnificently._

 _She succeeded. I had lost everything. My husband, my best friend, a grant I had been working towards. I felt like I was drowning. I felt myself slipping away._

 _In the midst of drowning, I stopped to open my eyes. I opened my eyes to see my two brothers by my side sick with worry. I saw my mother sitting beside me all night when she thought I was asleep. I heard the pain in the voices of my children, aching to see me._

 _My eyes were opened. I have everything I truly need. I have the love of my family, and I have it in spades. The love of my family and children is enough. The rest is icing, and is not needed to make me happy. I realized that I do love my work, and I am good at it. I will now make sure I have a human connection to the work I am doing, that it effects very real people. I have been set free from the walls of an unhappy marriage. I can now focus on my children and making our new reality joyous. My brothers and I are closer than we have ever been before. I now recognize the importance of my relationship with them in a brand new way._

 _That being said, I am their big sister, and it is my duty to protect. Thus, I'm calling you out Emily. You and Michael did not work out. You had the opportunity to hold your head high and walk away but you did not. You insisted on spreading false rumours about my brother and his alleged inappropriate behaviour at Harvard University. You do not get to make up stories simply because you are hurt and angry. The stories are false. I encourage the journalists at this fine publication to investigate thoroughly because they will find that that the student that made the accusation does not exist. Creating false rumours ultimately ends up hurting the true victims of these crimes out there. As a judge, you should know better._

 _Ultimately though, I want to thank you Emily. You showed me that I was unloved romantically, but I learned I was loved in other ways. Important ways. It refocused me to what is important. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I finally feel free. Love is all around you. Sometimes you just need to open your eyes._

Emily shakily put the paper down on the table to see the group staring icily at her. They had all finished reading the article also and were looking at her with a stunned look on their faces.

"This is…this is not what was supposed to be in here. This is not what they showed me mocked up last night. I don't know what is happening…I can't believe this is in the paper" Emily stuttered frantically.

Marilyn, a board trustee member at the Met looked at her with disdain. "Emily, is this true? What did you do to Hayley? You sent her into a nervous breakdown? And it was you that spread these rumours about Michael? I've known the Hofstadter's since they were small children!"

"It's not true. I can't believe they printed this. It's libel. It's pure libel! I didn't start any rumours. I never did anything to Hayley. Michael cheated on me! That's the truth! They didn't mention that did they? I'm going to sue Hayley and the New York Times for this" Emily ranted, her face flush with embarrassment.

"It's not libel if it's the truth" a voice called out flatly from behind Emily.

The table and Emily all turned toward a tall woman wearing large sunglasses that was standing behind the table. The woman took off her sunglasses.

"Beverly!" Emily gasped. "What are you doing here?"

Beverly grinned and stood behind Emily's chair and nodded to the women at the table. The women nodded back at Beverly. "Well a little birdie told me about this soiree to discuss my daughter's article and I was hurt that I didn't get an invite. So I took it upon myself to invite myself."

"This was not supposed to be Hayley's article. It was supposed to be mine. It was my opportunity to expose what a terrible person your dear Michael is to the world." Emily stated quietly.

Beverly took out her reading glasses from her purse and put them on. "Emily dear, I don't know what you are talking about. Why on earth would the New York Times write an article about you? You are average and uninteresting at best. I think Hayley did a good job with her article…a little emotional for my tastes, but I'm sure it's a much higher calibre than anything you could have produced."

Emily grabbed Beverly's arm. "I need to talk to you in private" she hissed. The two women got up from their chairs and moved towards the bar. "You are not going to get away with this. I'm going to go after Michael and Hayley with everything I have. They'll be the scorned of this city when I'm done with them. Everyone will hate them with every fibre of their beings."

Beverly gave Emily an icy stare. "Well then you are stupider than you look. If I were you, I'd slip out of the spotlight and focus on your work. Our family no longer wants to associate with you."

Emily laughed. "Believe me, I don't want to associate with your literally crazy family also. But no bad deed goes unpunished. I'm a judge…it's in my nature."

"Well, you may find this interesting. I was gravely concerned with you impersonating a psychiatrist when you called Hayley's colleague Mitchell. I spoke to him about it, and we have the records of the call, and it's definitely from your cell phone."

Emily scoffed. "That's proves nothing. All it proves is that a call came from my cell phone. It doesn't prove what we were talking about, or even that it was me on the phone."

"True..true. But remember that blow out fight at the hospital. Where Michael told us everything he and you did? You didn't deny it at all. You were proud of what you did. Well I happened to record that conversation on my phone when it was happening."

"That recording would never hold up in court." Emily retorted nervously.

"Court of Law? Probably not. Court of public opinion? Well that may be another story" Beverly smiled.

"You wouldn't…it makes Michael look much worse than me. You would never tarnish his reputation like that!"

"Well the funniest thing happened. That part where Michael confessed his sins did not seem to record. Just yours. Funny how that happened isn't it?"

"Hilarious.." Emily muttered.

"Heed my advice Emily. Put an end to those rumours about Michael and walk away. End this. Go live your life, and my family will live ours." Beverly's phone beeped with a text message. "Oh, it's a reminder for my hair appointment for the wedding tonight."

Emily looked at her puzzled. "Wedding? How could you be going to a wedding? Tonight was supposed to be my rehearsal dinner at the American Museum of Natural History."

Beverly took out her compact and started applying her makeup. "Oh yes, it's still there."

"What are you talking about? Michael cancelled that venue. I got an email about it. Did you forget to cancel your hair appointment for the dinner? I suppose you start forgetting things at your age" Emily said snidely.

Beverly smiled coyly at Emily. "Oh I didn't forget dear. Did you think you were irreplaceable? You are not."

"Replaceable?" Emily said stunned. "What are you talking about? You are NOT telling me that Michael is getting married tonight! Oh my God. Is he? To who? Who! It's not to that bitch Ainsley is it?"

"Ah, Ainsley. Such a beautiful girl. I always liked her. Well my family's business is none of yours. I'll be heading off now. Consider what I said carefully. I am a women with connections, time, resources and intelligence on my side. It would not be wise to battle with me."

Beverly walked off towards the entrance of the restaurant. She could see a pale faced Emily head back to the table where her guests were staring at her with utter contempt.

She smiled to herself. "Stupid…stupid girl."

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! Final chapter – Lenny's wedding coming up!**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Penny was bustling around her room pulling everything out of her suitcase. She couldn't believe it. It was her wedding day. And she was getting married in the most beautiful room she had ever seen. It was all happening so fast. Last night, Leonard and her found rings and sorted out the marriage license. Now she just had to somehow try to look the part. She pulled out a light pink dress with black straps that she had packed. It was a beautiful dress. Not exactly what she had imagined for her wedding, but with a veil she was sure she could make it look beautiful. A veil! Where was she going to find one in the next six hours?

"That's a beautiful dress."

Penny turned around to see Hayley standing at the doorway smiling at her. Penny gestured her to come into the bedroom. She found a small clear spot on the bed that was not covered in clothes and sat down.

"I can't believe I'm getting married tonight! I have a million things running through my head…I don't know how I'm going to get it all done. I was thinking this dress would work. I was thinking of curling my hair and leaving it half up half down. Do you know where I could get a veil last minute? I also need a bouquet. Is there a good florist around here? I could get them to put something simple together."

Hayley smiled and shook her head. "Penny, you can't get married in that dress."

"Oh my God…You don't like it. Is it because it's pink? It's the nicest dress I brought with me. I'd ask you if I could borrow a dress, but you look like you're a size zero. Oh no…I don't have time. What am I going to do!" Penny said panicked.

"Whoa…calm down. Take a deep breath. The dress is perfectly lovely but you can't wear that because it's not a wedding dress."

"I know it's not a wedding dress! Those take months to order in and then all the fittings. I only have six hours. It's impossible. I just need to make this dress work somehow."

Hayley chuckled, and slung her wraparound purse over her shoulder. "Nothing is impossible. Pack up everything you need to get ready Penny. We'll be out until it's time to get ready at the museum. You are about to see how incredibly well connected your new sister is. I want you and Leonard to have the wedding you always wanted, and that includes a real wedding dress, professionally styled hair and makeup and a proper bouquet." Hayley looked at the time on her phone. "Your new sister is also extremely anal retentive about being late. Our first appointment is for a Vera Wang dress in thirty minutes so we better get going right away."

"Hayley!" Penny squealed as she gave her a hug. "Vera Wang! I adore Vera Wang. But their stuff is so expensive. As much as I love it, I don't think I could afford it."

"The dress will be a fraction of what it would normally retail at because I'm friends with the owner of the shop. Besides, the dress, hair, makeup and whatever else is on me. Consider it my wedding present to you."

Tears filled Penny's eyes. "I couldn't it's too much" she protested.

"I won't take no for an answer. It's all arranged Penny, and it would make me so happy if you accepted."

"That is so incredibly sweet. I don't know what to say except, thank you so much. It's turning into the perfect day."

Hayley smiled warmly back. "Your wedding day should be the perfect day. I want that for you and my brother. He and Michael left early this morning to get their tuxes and to sort out the venue. What did your family say about coming? Will they be able to make it?"

"Yes! They should be boarding their plane any minute. My sister couldn't make it because its her last trimester and she can't fly. My parents and brother said they wouldn't miss this for the world." Penny laughed. "My dad said he wants to tell all his friends about his daughters fancy dancy New York city slicker wedding. Our group of friends are also flying in from LA. All of them! They must be on the plane right now. I can't believe how well everything is coming together, even though it's so last minute."

"Well I find when things are meant to be, the details just click into place." Hayley said thoughtfully. She looked at the time on her phone to check on the time. There was a text from Michael. She quickly tapped on the message.

 _Michael: An Op Ed in the NY Times! Amazing article Hale. Leonard and I both read it. We're so proud of you. Of course, I'm sure Em is having a meltdown, but karma can be a bitch. No doubt about it – you're the best sister in the world. Thanks for having my back._

Hayley smiled and quickly texted back.

 _Hayley: Thank you, but you really shouldn't call your sister a bitch! Ha! Love you both! Be warned – Leonard is going to have a heart attack when he sees how stunning Penny looks. See you at the museum._

Hayley looked up to see Penny filling up her bag with everything she would need for the wedding. "Are you ready?"

Penny spun around happily and grabbed her bag. "Let's go!"

* * *

"I can't believe that I'm getting married in one hour" Leonard said excitedly as he straightened his tie in the mirror. "I'm glad you convinced me to go with the navy blue tuxedo. It's something I'd never pick out, but it looks really good."

"Well navy blue is on point this season. You look great Len" Michael said as he flipped through his list of requirements for the venue.

Leonard smiled at his brother. The venue looked amazing, and he had really gone all out to make it special. From flowers, to music, to lighting, to a special chef for the evening. He wouldn't have believed that Michael would do anything for him just ten days ago. Both brothers were seeing each other in a brand new light.

Leonard cleared his throat. "Umm…Michael. About the position of best man –"

"- Oh I understand. You want to ask Sheldon. He is your best friend, and I know we haven't been close for many years. Don't worry about it." Michael said quickly while looking down.

"No, that's not it. Michael, I'm asking you if you would be my best man. Sheldon is my best friend, but you are my brother. There is no one I'd rather have by my side than you. We've been through so much together, and I want you beside me as I take this big step in my life. Will you be my best man?"

Michael flushed red and gave a shy smile. "I'd be honoured." Leonard pulled his younger brother into a hug.

"I'm sorry I've been such a pain in your ass for most of our lives. I know I didn't make things easy for you" Michael whispered.

Leonard started laughing. "I'm sorry that you were such a pain in the ass too! No apologizing. It's a happy day."

Michael smiled. "True. You're right. You're sure Sheldon won't be upset though?"

"Sheldon will probably thank me for not bestowing that honour upon him. He hates public speaking, weddings, crowds, people in general…"

"He sounds like quite a character" Michael chuckled.

"He's a good guy at heart, just a bit eccentric." Leonard replied. He peered at the door where muffled noises were emanating. "Sounds like people are starting to arrive."

Michael opened the door a crack and peered out. "It looks like most people are here. Your friends, both the families. Did you want to go out and chat with them before the ceremony?"

Leonard shook his head. "I think I want some quiet time before. To appreciate this special moment. Does that sound weird?"

Michael smiled. "It's probably the most sane thing I heard all day. I'll go greet our guests. You enjoy your quiet time."

"Thanks" Leonard replied as Michael closed the door.

* * *

Tears filled Penny's eyes as she gazed at herself in the floor length mirror. She was wearing a Vera Wang fitted strapless lace gown tied with a very light grey satin sash around her waist. Her hair was set with loose curls falling to her shoulders. She had a thin diamond band woven all throughout her hair. Her jewelry was simple and understated. She held up her bouquet to her chest, filled with vintage roses, lavender and peonies. She felt transformed. Hayley gently adjusted the lace veil on her head.

"Don't cry Penny. Your makeup is perfect. You look so amazing. The perfect bride. Leonard is going to melt when he sees you. Your mom couldn't stop crying when she saw you" Hayley said softly.

Penny carefully dabbed her eyes with a tissue. "This is such a dream come true. I don't know what to say…there's no words. I never thought I could have a wedding like this, and look like this. I am marrying my best friend in the whole world. I'm scared to blink because I think it might all disappear."

Hayley gently rubbed Penny's shoulders. "I assure you, this is all very real. Leonard is such a sweet and kind person, and nothing makes my heart happier to see the two of you both so in love, coming together to commit your lives to each other."

Hayley leaned up to Penny's ear and whispered. "Embrace this moment"

Penny smiled back. "I am. Believe me, I am. Thank you so much Hayley. For everything. I really appreciate you being my maid of honour. My sister couldn't make it, and Amy said it would be too hard for her considering her breakup with Sheldon. But really, after everything we've been through this week, I am so happy that my other sister, my new sister, is able to stand by my side."

Hayley squeezed Penny's hand. "I'm happy to do it."

A loud knock interrupted the moment. Hayley went and opened the door. An older gentlemen walked in the door and whistled at Penny. He took Penny's arm and gave her a twirl. "I guess I can't call you slugger anymore, I'll have to change that to princess."

"Daddy!" Penny exclaimed. She hugged him tightly. "It's so good to see you. I've been waiting to hug you all day."

"Pumpkin, I've never seen you looking more beautiful than you do right now" Wyatt said proudly.

"This has already been one of the most amazing days of my life, and I haven't even gotten to the main event" Penny laughed.

"Well, I'll tell you, I've never seen anything like that room you're getting married in. That is something else."

"I saw the room when it wasn't all decorated for the wedding, and it was amazing then. Hayley hasn't let me see it today. She said that Leonard wanted it to be a surprise."

Wyatt smiled. "Well then, I'll be happy to see the look on your face when you see it. Seems like they went all out. Well a beautiful bride deserves a beautiful wedding right?" Music started playing from the Blue Whale Room. There were strings and an acoustic guitar. The tune sounded oddly familiar. "I think they're playing your song honey. You ready?"

Penny was lost trying to place the song. Then it hit her. "It's Storybook Love from the Princess Bride" she whispered to herself. "Oh Leonard…you really thought of everything."

She smiled and linked arms with her father. "I am. I'm ready"

Hayley opened the door and started made her way first down the aisle. Penny and her father took their first steps in the room when Penny stopped and gasped. The room was completely candlelit, with the large blue whale glowing from the centre of ceiling of the room. There were candles lining the aisle, creating a lighted path. The aquariums were glowing blue in the background and they had filled the room with flowers. Blue hydrangeas, purple peonies, white roses, pink orchids were all held up with tiny twinkling lights. The smell was intoxicating. It felt like she had walked into a magical underwater realm.

"It's amazing" she whispered.

Wyatt chuckled. "I told you. Come on now, we can't stand here gawking. You've got an eager groom waiting for you at the other end."

Penny squeezed her father's arm, and they continued down the candlelit aisle. All of the guests were standing watching her. All her loved ones. Sheldon and Amy were standing there smiling, Howard and Bernadette were mouthing hello and waving. Raj had already started crying and Emily was holding his hand. Beverly was standing stoically straight with a hint of a tear in her eye. Little Phoebe and Daniel were there with excited looks on their faces. Her brother Jeremy winked and grinned at her. Her mother, Anne, looked so proud and was dabbing tears from her eyes and clutching her brother's hand. She then turned her eyes to the end of the aisle. Hayley and Michael were standing off to either side. At the centre was Leonard.

Leonard. Her heart, her love, her best friend in the whole world. He looked amazing in his dark blue tuxedo. He was trying so hard to hold back tears as he watched her approach. They finally reached the end of the aisle and Leonard came down to meet Penny.

"Now you take care of my princess. Promise me that." Wyatt said to Leonard as he squeezed Penny's hand.

"I will sir. Always" Leonard replied seriously.

Wyatt gave his daughter a light kiss on the forehead and then sat down beside his wife. Leonard took Penny's arm in his and led them to the minister. "You look absolutely breathtaking. I feel like I am in a dream. You're all my dreams come true" he whispered to her.

"And you are mine" she whispered back.

The minister started the ceremony. "Dearly Beloved…"

Leonard and Penny faced each other holding hands. They were listening to the words, but they were lost looking at each other. The journey of their romance was running through their minds. Those first conversations, falling in love, the misunderstandings, the laughter, the tears. They had been through so much, but love had always brought them back to each other. Love tied them. The road ahead would not always be easy but there was no other person they wanted to take that journey with.

"I was told you two wanted to say your own vows. You may do so at this time" the minister stated.

Leonard cleared his throat. "I'll go first, if you don't mind."

Penny nodded.

"From the time I was a small boy, I was always obsessed with the world of fantasy. Hobbits, fairies, superheroes, aliens, elves, space adventures. In those worlds the impossible was possible and I loved that. It felt so different from my own reality. In that world, intelligence was valued over brawn. Loyalty, steadfastness and a quick wit were held paramount. I often wished I could live in this fantasy world. But that all changed when I met you Penny. I still love fantasy, but you turned my reality into a place where I wanted to be."

Leonard held Penny's hands in his. "Penny, you are the most incredibly beautiful woman I've ever seen, but you are so much more than that. There is a beauty within you that shines from within you. You are so kind with the little things you do, you make me laugh, you make me laugh at myself. You are a strong person, your warmth is infectious it draws people to you. I know without a doubt in my mind, that you are always in my corner and that if I ever need your support you will be there. I feel blessed to have a partner like you to share my life with. I pledge to you that I will always be there for you, support you, and love you. Always."

Penny blinked furiously trying to keep the tears in her eyes. "Oh Leonard" she sighed as she smiled at him. She squeezed his hands and began.

"Leonard, when I ran into you in the hallway all those years ago, I had no idea how much my life would change. You introduced me to so many new things, that I had never experienced before. The most important new experience to me was you. I had never met a man like you before. A man so genuine in his intentions, a man who wore his heart on his sleeve. You showed me what true love and kindness was. I was scared, I tried to push you away because I was scared of what I saw before me. A good man who loved me with no reservations. I had never experienced that before, and I was scared if I embraced it, it would all fall away. Your love was steadfast and true. You proved to me without a shadow of a doubt, that your love is genuine. I finally moved past my fears and let myself embrace it. I embraced you, and I have never looked back. You are my confidante, my lover and my best friend. I pledge to always love and support you. Always."

Leonard squeezed Penny's hands back, but his eyes were saying all the words that he could not say.

The rest of the ceremony was a blur for the couple. Rings were placed on each other's fingers. I do's were exchanged. There were only two people in the room as far as they were concerned. The minister leaned in and tapped Leonard on the shoulder, jolting him back into the present. He whispered to Leonard "You may now kiss your bride."

Leonard smiled. "You don't have to tell me twice!" He leaned in and gave Penny a sweet and tender kiss. This kiss changed everything. It was a kiss that bonded them to each other forever.

* * *

Laughter filled the room as everyone sat down to enjoy dinner in the Blue Whale Room. Dinner kept being interrupted with hugs, congratulations, and impromptu speeches from friends and family. The evening was filled with heartfelt stories about the couple from their friends and stories from their youth courtesy of the Michael, Hayley and Jeremy.

The time had come for the first dance to occur. The DJ tapped Leonard and Penny on the shoulder and asked what their first dance song would be.

Leonard looked at Penny worried. They had not even thought about it or discussed it. Penny broke out in a smile and turned to Leonard. "I have the perfect song, it's not conventional, but I think it's the perfect song for us. Do you trust me?"

Leonard grinned. "Always"

Penny whispered something into the DJ's ear. He went back to his computer to set up the song. Leonard held out his hand. "May I have this dance."

The couple went out to the middle of the oak dance floor. Their friends and family gathered in the perimeter watching in the candlelight. The first few chords started playing, and Leonard started laughing.

"Cherish" Penny whispered. They began swaying together in a close embrace, and Penny started mouthing the words to Leonard

 _"So tired of broken hearts and losing at this game. Before I start this dance, I take a chance in telling you_

 _I want more than just romance. You are my destiny. I can't let go, Baby can't you see. Cupid, please take your aim at me."_

Leonard swung Penny around and laughed. " _Cherish the thought, of always having you, here by my side_."

" _Baby I cherish the joy, you keep bringing it, into my life. I'm always singing it_ " Penny replied.

" _Cherish the strength. You got the power, to make me feel good_ " Leonard sang back to her.

" _Baby I perish the thought of ever leaving, I never would_." Penny responded. They swung around and started laughing. All their friends and family had all joined them dancing minus Sheldon and Amy. Michael pulled Beverly onto the dance floor. Jeremy was playfully dancing with Daniel, Phoebe and Hayley. Leonard scanned the room for Sheldon and then spotted him and Amy in front of an aquarium at the back of the room.

"Look" Leonard whispered in Penny's ear. Sheldon and Amy looked to be talking quite seriously. They then embraced in a tender hug, not letting go. "I think things may be on the mend with them."

"I told you this day was magic" Penny grinned and smiled. She kissed Leonard lightly on the lips and they continued to dance.

* * *

Hayley walked to her table to get some water. She noticed her purse was buzzing. She quickly took out her phone and looked at it. Nate was calling. Hayley stared at the phone for a second, but then hesitantly hit answer.

"Hello" she answered softly.

"I can't believe you called me out in the New York Times of all things. God Hayley, vindictive much? My phone has been blowing up all day. And don't think I didn't catch that little line in your article. I was looking for love in places that were barren. What is that supposed to mean –"

Hayley clicked end to the call and tossed the phone on table. She didn't want to engage in conversation with him. Today was a happy day, the day her brother got married. She sighed and looked at the engagement and wedding ring on her left hand. She knew it was over, it just seemed a bit unbelievable in her head still. She slowly slipped the rings off and put them away in her purse.

"You ok?" a voice called.

Hayley looked up and saw Michael looking at her concerned. He sat down beside and rubbed her shoulder. "What's going on?"

Hayley sighed. "Nothing. Nate just called." She looked wistfully at Leonard and Penny dancing happily away.

"That bastard doesn't deserve to talk to you. Is he bothering you? Just say the word Hayley –"

"-I don't think Nate's going to forget your right hook anytime soon Michael. It's ok. The truth of the matter is, I think I haven't loved him for a long time. I'm just getting used to my new reality I guess. It feels weird….different."

Michael bit his lip. "Um…Not to bring up a sensitive topic, but did Mitchell ever call you? "

Hayley looked at her glass of water and started playing with the condensation coming down the glass. "He did. He was nice and kind but it was as I had suspected. He doesn't have feelings for me, he never did. He just doesn't see me that way….even if I was single. I knew it. I didn't want it to be true, but I always knew it."

Michael looked at his sister concerned. "Well then maybe there is a silver lining in a way. At least you know and it's not a question mark in your head. He must be an idiot. I don't want my sister to be with a man that can't even recognize what a gem he has in front of him."

Hayley laughed and smiled at Michael. "You know what the sad part is? I still love him. I think a part of me will always love him. When I'm old and grey, there will be a piece of my heart that is still loving him. Something about him, captured me forever. I know he'll go on and live his life with someone else and be happy – he deserves that."

"Hayley! Michael" Leonard called out loudly as he walked toward their table. He was out of breath from dancing and had a huge smile on his face. When he got to the table he pulled them both into a big bear hug. "Thank you both for throwing us the most amazing wedding. Hayley, Penny told me about the dress, and everything you did today. Michael, the room, decorations, music, food…. I can't even. It's amazing, you thought of everything. Thank-you! There is no way this couldn't have cost hugely out of pocket, you have to let me know, and I'll pay you back."

Michael smiled. "There is nothing to pay back. Like I told you, it was all paid for anyways, it was just a bit of rearranging. It's the least I could do after everything I… Well, let's just say, happy wedding day Len."

Hayley raised her eyebrow and looked curiously at Michael.

Leonard pulled them into a group hug again. "I love you guys. Come back to the dance floor! The party is just getting started."

"We'll join you in a minute" Hayley responded with a smile. Leonard smiled and then ran back to Penny on the dance floor and then swung her around to her delight.

Michael and Hayley walked up to the perimeter of the dance floor and looked at the small group dancing with wild abandon. Michael put his arm around Hayley's shoulder, and she leaned back against his shoulder.

"Something isn't quite adding up to me. I know the event coordinator, Gerald. I know he wouldn't charge the same for a wedding as a rehearsal dinner. Plus this room is decorated to the nines. He'd charge you so much more. He's notorious for all his fees and extra charges. What is going on Michael?"

Michael softly smiled and stared at his brother and Penny dancing. "Ah Hayley. Don't ask why…just enjoy the moment."

Hayley laughed. She reached to grab Michael's wrist from her shoulder to lead him to the dance floor when she stopped short . Her eye's filled with tears and she looked at him with a stunned realization.

"Michael your watch. You sold your watch didn't you?…to pay for all this?"

Michael faced his sister. She knew the truth. Hayley always figured things out so quickly. He wiped a tear that had started running down her face. "It's ok Hayley. I used to need that watch to remind me of who I am. I don't need that anymore. I'll just remember this wedding, and know that I helped make that happen for my brother. That memory is better than any old watch."

Hayley embraced Michael tightly and smiled at him. "You deserve this too Michael. I want to see you as happy as Leonard is."

"And I want that for you. Mitchell or no Mitchell." Michael said softly. "You said in your article that you felt free now. We're both free. There is nothing holding us back anymore. We're free of expectations. We get to make our own story now. So let's do that. Let's make our stories count. "

Hayley and Michael gazed at their brother now dancing slowly with Penny in a sweet embrace. Hayley squeezed Michael's hand. "You are right. I cherish the thought."

The End.

 **A/N: Thank-you so much for reading, following and reviewing this story. I apologize for the story taking such a long time, it was a bit of an emotional one for me to write (plus life often got in the way). I appreciate you taking the time to read a different kind of Lenny story. I'm toying with the idea of a really short epilogue, but for now the story ends here. If you enjoyed the story, please drop me a review. I really love reading them. Thanks again! (Song Credit : Cherish – Madonna)**


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